Blood, Sweat and Energon
by Phyxir
Summary: Caught in the world of Transformers on Earth, a young man learns to adapt as his own life is transformed and he learns to rely on a team of friends who help him save their town and the planet.


**Disclaimer** :

All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended.

 **Author's Note** :

This was started in 1985 and finished in 1986, just after the animated movie came out in theatres. I was 15 years old when I wrote it. I did not modify the content before submitting it for public view in 2015. I wanted it to be from the 15 year old me and not from the 44 year old me today. I hope it takes you back to when Transformers were new to us and our young minds were full of imagination.

 **Synopsis** :

Caught in the world of Transformers on Earth, a young man learns to adapt as his own life is transformed and he learns to rely on a team of friends who help him save their town and the planet.

 **Blood, Sweat and Energon**

Fanfiction by Xaviar Ashton

Chapter 1

As Joel woke up one morning before school, one thought ran through his mind - rain or shine? He hoped it wasn't raining. He disliked walking in it. He was a Junior at Willington High School. The tall, muscle bound youth had blue eyes and short black hair.

"Joel, get up!" his mother yelled from the kitchen. "You're going to miss breakfast if you don't hurry up!"

He didn't bother answering. She knew he had heard her. He rolled out of bed and pulled on a black sleeveless shirt over his messed hair and climbed into a pair of black 501's.

"Are you coming!?" she yelled impatiently.

"Yeh," he answered this time.

He put on his left shoe at the top of the stairs. He began to hop down them on his left foot while trying to put the other one on. The left shoelace, untied, flipped under his foot and he tripped on it. He rolled down the stairs and ended up at their foot, sitting with his knees up to his chest.

His mother looked away from her cooking at the stove and laughed, "Want to try that again or have some breakfast?"

He ignored her sarcastic question, "What's for breakfast?"

"Eggs."

"Again! We've had eggs with everything this week and you know that I hate them!" he shot back angrily.

"Don't you ever talk to me in that tone of voice! If you don't like what I cook, you can go eat someplace else."

"Alright. I will!" as he stormed out the back door he glanced at the clock. It was an hour before school started.

Joel walked to school everyday. He had his driver's license, but he didn't have a car yet. Occasionally he could drive his mom's car, but not often. It was only a little Chevy Corvair that didn't run very well.

Every morning he passed a used car lot that wasn't very orderly. It was a one acre lot with cars scattered everywhere. He knew every car on the lot. Each time a new car would arrive, he would go and check it out. He was happy to see that this morning there was a new car, but even more surprised to see that it was a Lamborghini. He was tempted to look it over now, but he had to get to school now if he was going to eat.

Just before going to the cafeteria, he went and picked up his math book from his locker. While he was there he primped a little so that he didn't look like a complete slob. Standing in line to get his breakfast roll and milk, his friend, Adam walked up, "Whatcha doin' tonight?"

"Not much. Why?"

"Well. The boys and I thought we would go fool around at the car lot tonight. Wanna go?"

"Sure! What time?"

"How about six thirty?" suggested Adam.

"Sounds great. I'll just meet you there."

When the two sat down, Adam asked, "Have you seen that new Lamborghini?"

"I sure have!" said Joel excitedly. "Isn't it a beauty?" He couldn't wait to go check it out.

At 5:30 that evening, Joel decided to go to the lot early, he couldn't wait any longer. When he got there, it was all locked up as he had expected. So he went to the back of the lot and climbed through the hole in the chain link fence. He didn't have far to go to get to the car, it was parked right next to the hole.

As he approached the car, he saw something move out of the corner of his eye. He ducked down behind the car in time to see two shadows float along the ground. Peeking around the car, he saw a boy and a dog. So he thought. The sun was almost down so he couldn't see their details to well.

"The Autobot has to be around here somewhere," the boy's voice was grating and he sounded older than Joel thought it should be. The dog just growled.

As the pair walked in front of the car, Joel could see that the boy was a small robot man and the dog was actually a robot panther. They continued their search away from the car. "Get in," Joel heard someone whisper. He looked around but didn't see anyone. The car door opened and the voice repeated, "Get in."

He peeked into the car and still didn't see anyone. He got in, nevertheless, quietly shut the door and then locked it. The confines were all aglow with computers, viewscreens, buttons, and other things that should not be in a car. Maybe in Lamborghini's though, he thought.

"I'm glad they didn't find us," said the voice. As Joel was listening to the voice, one of the computer screens had a yellow line that wavered in synchronization with it.

"Uh. Yeh," said Joel, confused.

"Oh. I'm sorry," the line moved again. "My name is Sideswipe."

Then it finally occurred to him, "The car! You're talking!" a surprised Joel replied.

"So?" asked Sideswipe.

"Cars aren't supposed to talk." Joel said nervously.

"Here," the door opened. "Get out for a moment." Joel jumped out. What happened next, he couldn't believe. It looked like the car just stood up. Sideswipe had changed. He was no longer a car, but a robot with a missile mount on his left shoulder and a gun had materialized in his hand.

"This is an Autobot symbol," the robot warrior pointed to his chest. There was something that resembled a face there. "It separates us from the Decepticons. Two of them you have already seen."

"Hey those two were looking for you. Do you want me to go and get them?" he asked.

"No!" he grabbed Joel's arm with his huge hand. "I don't really want to be turned into scrap metal just yet. Those two aren't very nice. I'll explain later about the Decepticons. Right now I must get back to Autobot headquarters."

"Can I go?" asked Joel excitedly.

"I don't see why not. What time is it?"

"It should be around six," he replied.

As Sideswipe transformed back into the car, Joel got in and asked, "Can I get something to eat?"

He took Joel to a drive through. As they left Joel asked, "How long till we get there?"

"It should only take fifteen minutes."

Chapter 2

Autobot Headquarters startled Joel when he saw it. He didn't know it was there until they were almost inside. "This is your base?"

"It's temporary, but yes. Do you like it?"

"I've never seen anything like it!" exclaimed Joel. "How many Autobots are there?"

"I'm not sure. There's a lot of us. I know that much for sure. Most aren't on this planet though." He changed the subject, "Who were you looking for back at the car lot?"

"I was waiting for some friends. We were going to fool around the car lot. I'm glad I got to you first. There's no telling what they would say or do when they found out about you," Joel explained. "Who were those two other robots?"

"They are Decepticons. The 'man' is named Frenzy and the other is called Ravage," Sideswipe began to explain. "The Decepticons are a race of evil robots that are led by Megatron. What they like to do most is terrorize us Autobots and steal energy."

By this time they had come to a stop and Joel was standing next to Sideswipe as he transformed. A big red and blue robot walked in and stood behind Joel. "The energy they steal is what refuels the Transformers. The stolen energy is turned into Energon Cubes," said the larger robot. Joel had spun around and looked up as he fell against Sideswipe.

Sideswipe picked Joel up in his hand and said, "This is Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots. Optimus, this is Joel. He's the one I told you about." Then Joel remembered that during the trip, Sideswipe had been speaking to someone, but he couldn't hear the other person. Now he knew who it was."

"I'm glad to meet you," said Optimus Prime.

"Likewise," replied Joel.

"I need to speak to you," it was directed at Sideswipe. The statement was indicating, without the company of Joel.

He set Joel on the floor, excused himself from Joel's presence, and followed his leader to the corner of the room. "Sideswipe. Why did you bring him here?"

"He can help us monitor Decepticon activity in this quadrant. When he got inside me, his brainwaves indicated that he is intelligent enough to handle this type of request," replied Sideswipe.

"Does he understand the danger the Decepticons pose to this area?"

"He knows about them and has had a previous encounter with Frenzy and Ravage. If he doesn't realize the danger, I'm sure it won't take him long."

"Okay. That is all. Thank you." That meant that Joel could assist them as Sideswipe knew he could.

When he returned to where he left his new human friend, Joel was gone. Calling his name received no response. He walked through a couple of corridors until he go to the Command Room. He went directly to Tele Tran II, the offspring of the most intelligent and sophisticated computer on Earth. Standing in front of the computer was Joel and Rewind. Rewind was similar in build to Frenzy, but a little more bulky.

Joel was being shown Tele Tran II. He seemed quite interested in the computer. He was in awe of the entire place. The computers at his school only had 64K.

Sideswipe could see that Joel was in capable hands, so he went to find Wheeljack. Wheeljack was the Autobot's 'mad scientist'. He liked to invent things and not all of his inventions worked. He also is quite often damaged by his own inventions.

When he walked into Wheeljack's lab, he saw the scientist working on something or someone. "Hey Wheeljack," he yelled across the room. "What are you up to?"

"I'm working on Breakjammer. His a..."

Sideswipe cut him off, "I need you to make something for me. Well, it's not for me, it's for my friend Joel. He's our new human ally."

"It all depends on what it is," replied Wheeljack.

"I need a comlink that won't be noticeable, you know, disguised."

"That is so easy, you could probably do it yourself," commented Wheeljack. "But sure. I'll make it. Don't you worry."

As Sideswipe left, he couldn't help but wonder who or what Breakjammer was. When he got back to the Command Room, he saw Joel standing in front of a computer terminal studying techspecs of all known Transformers. "What're you doing?" he questioned. "Those are confidential."

"I'm learning about Transformers," he seemed hurt. "Iron Hide said it was okay." If the head of security said it was okay, why should Sideswipe interfere? Joel would have to read them sooner or later anyway. "I also studied your history and found it very interesting."

"I'm glad you like us," he remarked. "If you have come across Wheeljack in your reading, he has something for you. When you get it from him, he will explain how it works."

"I passed his file already. Where is he?"

"Through that door," he pointed to a door on Joel's right.

He walked into the lab and found all kinds of devices. Among them were Earth types that he could recognize. He heard someone say, "Hello. Who's there?"

"My name is Joel."

"Oh. I'm Wheeljack," he said, standing up from behind a pile of junk.

"Hello", Joel replied uneasily. He took notice of the two missile mounts on his shoulders. "Sideswipe said you had something for me?"

"Yes I do. I have a digital wrist watch for you."

"A watch?" he asked in disbelief. "I already have one."

"It's not just an ordinary watch, Joel. This is a comlink and an emergency beacon. Only the Protectobots can pick up the signal on their sophisticated equipment. In the back of the watch there is a compartment for a tracer. You can use it for tracking something or somebody. Actually, you can't, but Tele Tran II can," explained Wheeljack.

Joel was so excited to have a secret device. He could consider himself an Autobot spy. "Thanks!" With the watch in hand he turned and ran out of the door to find Sideswipe.

"Wait!" said Wheeljack. Joel didn't give him time enough to explain how to operate it.

As Joel rounded the corner of a corridor, he ran into Rewind. He hit him so hard that Joel bounced off and landed on the ground with a thud. "Nice to bump into you again," said Rewind as he helped Joel to his feet.

Joel ignored the comment and asked him, "Where's Sideswipe?"

"I think he's in the recreation room. I can call him if you want me to," offered the Autobot.

"That won't be necessary," said Sideswipe as he rounded the corner that Joel had just run past. Joel turned and faced him, "I need a ride home. Can you take me? It's getting late and I really don't want to get into another fight with my mom."

"Sure," he replied, transforming. Joel got in the drivers seat.

"Iron Hide. This is Sideswipe. I'm taking Joel home," he informed over the comlink.

"Affirmative," Iron Hide transmitted. "Don't stay out too long," he ordered.

"I won't," he assured. "We're headed for home," he told his passenger.

"Can you drop me off near my house. I don't want my mom to see me driving up in a Lamborghini. Ya know what I mean?"

"I can assume."

Sideswipe rolled to a stop quite a distance from Joel's house. He got out and said, "Thanks for the ride," and walked to his house. It was around 10:30 in the evening when he walked up the drive. The front door was locked as expected so he went through the garage. He tripped over a couple of boxes and a bucket of ashes as he went to turn the light on. When the pale yellow light came on, he was surprised at its cleanliness. It was actually organized. Mom must have really been bored, he thought.

His room was located right next to the garage. In fact, the lightswitch he had just turned on was right next to the door that led to his room. He opened it and went directly to his bed. The room was totally dark, just the way he liked it. Laying there on the bed, he could not help but recall the past few hours. The longer he lay there, the more he came to the conclusion that it had all been a figment of his imagination. Sleep finally took him.

The next morning, Joel's alarm went off at 6:30 as usual. He got up, removed his clothes from the previous night and started to get dressed for school. While he tried to remember falling asleep in his clothes, he remembered that it was Saturday. "What a dream I had last night," he said to himself, as he recalled the events that he thought was a dream.

As he stuck his arms through the sleeves of his shirt, his left wrist caught on something. He tried to pull his arm out, but it was still caught. It can't be that strong, he thought, as he gave a strong tug. It gave way as he tugged. He looked at his wrist and noticed strings from his shirt hanging off a watch that he barely recognized. He took the strings and dropped them onto the floor. Looking at the watch in amazement he said, "It wasn't a dream."

He was jolted from his awe as his mother rapped on his bedroom door. "Come in," he announced.

"I thought I heard voices," she said in a questioning voice.

"I was just talking to myself," he assured.

She glanced away from his eyes. "I see you found your watch."

He nodded, glad that she hadn't noticed it's strange design.

"What're your plans today?"

"I think I'm just going to goof around as usual," he replied. She was seemed satisfied with that response.

Back at Autobot Headquarters, Sideswipe stood in front of Optimus Prime. "I hadn't realized how much trouble I could be getting Joel into. If the Decepticons discover him, they could really hurt him. After all, he lives not too far from the last report of Decepticon activity. And Joel was there.

"We may have that covered. If he is to be a spy of ours, he is going to need a secret weapon. Wheeljack says he has that covered. Soon Joel will be able to take care of himself. I think you've chosen wisely, I get the same impression you do about your young friend," acknowledged the Autobot's leader.

Joel left his home around eight in the morning. Heading towards town, he had about a half a mile's walk ahead of him. He was in search of his friends. He itched under his watch. It bugged him. He was not used to wearing one. He removed it and put it in his pocket.

Chapter 3

A little while after Joel had reached town, he found his friend Aaron. He had a car that they always cruised around in. After driving around the small town for awhile and stopping to talk to people every once in a while, Joel finally noticed an advertisement that read, 'Free car wash. Today only!'. Aaron saw it too.

"Wanna go get this bucket cleaned?" asked the driver.

"Sure. Like we have something better to do anyway."

"Where did it say it was at?"

"I think it was about a couple of miles from my house," said Joel. "Doesn't that seem a little far from town to get much business?"

"Sure. But maybe that's the catch," agreed Aaron. "You go get the car washed for free, but when you go home, you get it dirty on that dirt road and you need to get it washed again," he rambled.

When they got to the building, they both noticed it's strange design. It tugged at Joel's memory as he read the sign, 'Fully Automated'. The car in front of them was pulled in, and a door closed behind it, eliminating their view of the car. They could hear the whine of machinery too.

"I've never seen a car wash without windows," observed Aaron.

Joel didn't respond. He had never seen a car wash built like this at all. Except for maybe one place...

The door opened and this time Aaron's car was pulled in. After the door shut, water began spraying out of pipes. The windows began to fog up. The shape that Joel saw through his fogged window, caused everything to make sense. The shape was identical to Frenzy.

"Aaron, get out," Joel yelled. "Cone on! We have to hurry!"

"I'm not going anywhere," he replied calmly behind the wheel. "We're too old to play games like that."

"This is not a game," he shot back angrily. Just as Joel was going to explain, they heard the sound of metal being ripped. The passenger looked at the floorboard and saw something burning its way through the bottom of the car. As Joel opened his door and jumped out, he saw a metal canister burst through the floor of the car and explode, filling the car with some type of white gas. Joel had hoped Aaron would follow, but he did not have enough time.

Sop and wet, Joel ran toward some huge water pipes and hid behind them. He hoped Aaron had time to get out of the car, but from where he was he couldn't see him.

When the water shut off, Joel could see a mechanical arm rip off the car door on the drivers' side and pull Aaron from the car. A huge magnet came down from the roof and pulled the car up into the rafters. The car was released a couple inches above a conveyor belt and dropped on to it. Joel watched the car as it was carried out of sight by the belt.

He stood up just in time to duck down again. The Decepticon, Starscream was walking in the direction the car had gone. He was about as tall as Optimus Prime and was also red, white, and blue. You could tell by looking at him that he was a jet.

Quietly, he followed, sneaking behind the water pipes. The robot walked up to a door and it whooshed open. When Starscream walked through it, it closed with another rush of air. The conveyor belt went through an opening in the wall above the door's upper left corner. There were some metal barrels stacked up against the wall under it. Successfully, he climbed quietly on top. The supports for the conveyor belt were just out of reach. He thought that perhaps he could make it by jumping. But it he lost his grip...? But finding his friend and what the Decepticons were up too were more important. He jumped.

Grabbing the support, he hung there for a minute, contemplating on what to do next. He swung his legs up and over himself, landing on top of the conveyor belt. He sat there listening for a clue, a sound of the car wash starting back up and sending a car down the conveyor belt. Now that Joel was up there he had no idea of how to get down. He crawled over to the opening in the wall and looked in.

There were hundreds of cars all neatly stacked and organized in a room the size of a warehouse. He was directly above the tallest stack. If all these cars are here, I wonder where all the drivers are. Including Aaron, he thought. Starscream was just leaving the room via large corridor. I wonder where he's going.

Joel quietly climbed down off of the conveyor belt onto the stack of cars below. As quietly as he could, he climbed down the passenger side of the stack. He noticed that they all had a similar eruption in the floorboard. Just like ours, he thought. At the bottom, he peeked around the corner of the stack, but didn't see anyone. He looked down the corridor Starscream had gone down, at the door. Through the smoky window set into it, he could see Starscream's shadow.

The corridor leading to that door had no hiding places for Joel to hide in case the robot came out suddenly. He'd have to wait, to search the room. Or...he opted to find another room to search.

After searching the warehouse for other rooms, he returned to the stack he climbed down. There were no other rooms, windows, or anything. His attention was drawn to the sound of metal hitting the floor, repeatedly. It was unmistakably the footsteps of a Transformer. He threw himself to the floor and slid under the pile of cars. From underneath, he peeked, to see the Decepticon Soundwave.

Soundwave is the Decepticon Communications Specialist. His disguise was a tape recorder. He is also the leader of a group of Tapes that do special missions for him. Among them are Frenzy and Ravage.

Soundwave was heading toward a pile of cars about five high. Their trunks were against the wall. The cars were to Joel's right. When Soundwave reached the drivers side of the stack, he touched the wall. He turned around and went to stand in front of them. With a quiet sliding noise, they parted in half, vertically, revealing a hidden passage. He moved forward through the passage and the cars slid back into their previous position.

As soon as they were normal, Joel slid out from under the cars and ran to the phony pile. He looked up to the spot Soundwave had touched and noticed that there was a panel that was slightly discolored. During his search for other rooms and such, he forgot to look at the level of a regular sized Transformer, which was about four times as tall as a normal sized man and maybe even taller.

He climbed the cars until he reached the controls. Reaching over, he touched the control pad. The cars started to part again. He climbed down one car and jumped past the rest, hitting the floor with a loud smack coming from his shoes. He ran through the entrance just as the cars started to come together again.

After the cars shut, another door slid from above, covering the back of them. The corridor was faintly lit by lights in the floor. To his right there was a door. He put his ear to it and listened for sounds. When he didn't hear any, he jumped up to the control panel and hit it. It parted as soon as Joel hit the floor. He looked past the threshold and viewed the outside. It shut automatically when he stepped two feet from it. He turned and started walking down the long corridor. There were lots of doors lining the corridor but Joel didn't bother to see what they hid.

He stopped walking and strained his ears to pick up the sound he just heard. He could hear the faint sounds of a rivet gun and metal clanking. They got louder as he walked down the corridor. The louder they got, more sounds joined them. It sounded like an automotive shop or a car manufacturing plant.

He started running down the corridor to investigate. He had two options, left or right. At the end of the right hall there was a door with a sign above it that read 'COMMAND'. Not a good choice, he thought. No telling who or what was in there.

The left one led into a huge room. Through its entrance, he could see cars and different types of machinery. He stood next to a support beam that stuck out from the wall about two feet. It surrounded the entire corner. The other side had one identical.

Joel heard the clanking of metal. At first he didn't think anything of it. Then he noticed that it was getting closer and closer. He hid behind the support beam, in fear that someone had seen him.

Two huge blue legs stopped just as they passed Joel. They towered over him. Looking up, he saw Soundwave just standing there looking at the door to the Command Center. He feared that Soundwave would turn and pick him up. But he didn't. The Decepticon walked forward into the room. Joel exhaled loudly and stepped out from behind the beam and walked along the wall into the big room.

On Joel's right there was an opening in the walls upper left corner through which the conveyor belt passed. It was carrying cars into the room. Behind the conveyor belt there was a forklift-type machine that would grab a car, pivot around and place it on another conveyor belt. The cars would then travel down the second belt to other machinery.

This machinery would do many different things to it. Mainly, it would cut and tear the car apart. It was so delicately taken apart that even the wires, buttons, and lights were taken out and placed in a big metal bin next to the machine. After the car was totally dismantled, only the metal was left on the conveyor belt. This metal was the dumped into a smelting pot at the big black belt's end.

Back at the Autobot's temporary headquarters, Wheeljack was just finishing the programming for Breakjammer when Optimus Prime walked into the lab.

"You wanted to talk with me?" questioned Prime.

"Yes. I have just completed my latest invention," he announced. "His name is Breakjammer. I was going to program him to be a warrior, but Joel came along at the right time and now he has a partner. If that's okay with you?"

"That's fine by me," confirmed the leader. "What does he do?"

"First of all," he began enthused. "His vehicle form is a high-tech motorcycle. His weapon capabilities are infra-red, heat seeking missiles, null-ray, high-powered particle beam cannon, vibro shield, force field, and like Mirage (the other Autobot spy), he can disappear, but only for five minutes. His other systems take up so much energy that the time must be limited or else he'll burn himself out. As you might have guessed, his function is spy. He is also equipped with a homing beacon. He can also track Joel by use of Joel's communicator and beacon," concluded Wheeljack.

"Is he functional now?"

He walked over to where Breakjammer was standing, flipped open a metal panel on the Spy's shoulder and as he pressed a series of buttons, responded by saying, "Sure is!" He closed the panel.

Optimus looked at Breakjammer's face, expecting the blue hue to fill the optic sensors, indicating life. Instead they lit up yellow. Optimus Prime was taken back by the color, but he decided not to ask the inventor why.

Wheeljack took a few steps backwards to admire his work. If he could smile with satisfaction he would have.

Breakjammer turned his head, looked at both of them in turn, and walked up to his leader.

"Your name and function?" asked the leader.

He replied, "My name is Breakjammer, function, Autobot Spy. My partner is Joel," he added.

Optimus looked at Wheeljack. The inventor looked back, expecting the breach of protocol. "He's programmed with all knowledge of Joel. I thought it would be a good idea. He is dedicated to his partners protection."

"Excuse me people," interrupted Breakjammer. "I am functional now and you guys are still talking like I haven't even been programmed."

Wheeljack ignored him and continued speaking, "For Joel's convenience, I programmed him with the communication abilities of a teenager."

"Why don't you go and check out your new home," ordered Optimus Prime. "Meet some of the others too," he suggested.

"Yeh sure," he responded. "Anything to get out of your guy's hair."

Optimus looked at Wheeljack again.

"I was waiting for him to say something."

Prime's only response was, "Hmph."

Breakjammer walked out of the lab enthusiastically.

Joel watched as a maintenance robot went over to the large metal bins, one by one, and carried them out of the room through a corridor on Joel's right. He decided it was time to get some Autobot help. He turned around to go to the exit he had discovered earlier and almost ran right into Rumble and Frenzy.

Their guns were pointed directly at his chest. Rumbled laughed, "Hello fleshling."

Joel gave a fake chuckle and looked at the floor. "Start walking," Frenzy motioned toward the door Soundwave had gone through.

He walked between them and went towards the door with their guns digging into his back. It swooshed open as he neared it. He walked into the middle of the command room and stood before a perch type object. All around the room were computers and viewscreens. He could barely see the main computer behind the perch.

Hanging from it was a purple and black object made of metal. He could see that Soundwave was at the terminal behind the perch.

Rumble broke the silence, "Look who we found!"

Soundwave glanced over his shoulder at Joel and then turned back to his terminal. The object hanging in front of him flipped up so that it was sitting on top of the perch. He stepped back as soon as he realized that it was a big sinister looking bat, and obviously one of the tapes.

He was stunned again as it spoke. "I am Ratbat, commander of this outpost. Who are you?" he demanded.

"My name is Joel Knafe."

"Why did you leave your car in the middle of the wash?"

He could not let them know that he knew about the Decepticons by telling them that he thought he saw Frenzy. There's no telling what they could and would do to him. "I thought I saw someone behind some pipes. They could have been hurt. But now I know who it was," he answered.

"Who?" questioned the Commander.

"It was Frenzy," he pointed at the little blue robot. When he saw Soundwave turn around at the mention of Frenzy's name, he realized the mistake he had made. He didn't mean to say Frenzy's name, it just came out.

With a command unheard by Joel, Rumble and Frenzy grabbed Joel's arms and held them firmly behind his back.

"How did you know his name!" Ratbat demanded an answer.

Joel didn't respond. The only thing that came to mind was, 'He looks like a Frenzy', but that seemed inappropriate.

"Answer me!" he commanded.

He still refused to say anything.

"Nevermind," said Ratbat. We will simply have to extract the information from your brain later. And believe me, it will not be pleasant."

He directed his attention to Soundwave. "Prepare to drain this humans brain." He seemed excited.

"Extraction may commence in approximately one hour," he confirmed monotone.

Returning his attention to Joel's guards, "Take him to the holding cells."

They nodded in acknowledgment, spun Joel around and pushed him out of the command center. The captive cooperated.

"Where are we going?"

"We are going to the storage room. You know the one. It has all the cars in it." He heard the reply, but he didn't know which one said it.

"I get to sit in a room with a bunch of cars?" he asked sarcastically.

"No. You get to sit in the connecting room, full of slaves," said one of them in a tough sounding voice. Maybe that one was Rumble, he thought.

"Cause you're a slave now too," laughed Frenzy.

Joel came to a stop in front of the secret exit\entrance behind the cars and waited for one of the two robots to open the door. Frenzy continued past Joel and then stopped next to the doors controls. As Frenzy reached his hand up to open the door, Joel looked at the exit next to him, looked back at Frenzy and asked, "Where is this operation going to take place?"

"In the command center," replied Frenzy. "And it's not an operation. It's a mind probe."

Joel wasn't sure about the mind probe, but at least he had a chance to find out where Aaron and the other slaves were being held and on his way back to the command center, possibly escape. "Oh."

After Frenzy opened the passage, he motioned Joel through the opening. Joel obliged. Rumble followed close behind Frenzy, into the warehouse and the cars closed behind them.

Joel continued walking toward the only door in the room, the door he had watched Starscream go through earlier. It swooshed open when the sensors detected Joel. When he walked into the room, the door shut sooner than expected. He turned to see why. His escorts did not follow him through.

Before Joel turned back around to see where he was, he felt the presence of many people in the room with him. He turned to face the far wall of a big room. He thought to himself, this place is bigger on the inside than it looks on the outside. To his right there was a series of glowing yellow energon cells. Each cell was big enough to hold at least one hundred people, and most all of the cells were filled up.

Some of the people he recognized and others he did not. He moved towards the cells and stopped when he heard laughter. It was coming from a large dimly lit area on his left. It contained a large group of Decepticons. Among them were Starscream, the two Battlechargers, the Constructicons, and the Stunticons. They were all seated around Starscream.

He knew there would be no escape from this room. He would have to escape on his way back to the command center.

"We've been expecting you," said Starscream, in his scratchy voice. One of the Stunticons walked over to Joel and grabbed his arm and yanked him towards an energon cell. He was confused as to the Stunticons name, but he thought is was Deadend.

He caught a glimpse of Aaron in one of the cells and hoped to be put in the same cell. To his relief, he was. They stopped in front of the cell and Deadend pointed a remote control at the cell. Part of the cells glowing bars disappeared. Joel was pushed in. When he stood up from landing on the floor, he turned around. The space he had just passed through was filled back up with the energon bars and Deadend was walking back to the crowd.

Joel was in one of the cells with very few people. Aaron walked over to Joel, tapped him on the shoulder, and walked back to where he had been. Joel followed.

When he reached him, "What's the matter?" Aaron was acting kind of funny. Not as excited as Joel had expected him to be at seeing him.

"Nothing," he said vacantly. It was a tone that Joel had never heard before.

Something was wrong. Definitely wrong! But for now he would leave it alone. And why wasn't he asking Joel any questions?

A strange silence came over the cells he was in. He looked at Aaron and saw that he was laying on the floor asleep. So were all the other people. The other cells were still active. With the low murmur coming from the other cells, he thought it was a perfect time to contact the Autobots.

Joel's communicator signal was brought to Grooves attention by the familiar beeping sound coming from the communications console. he walked over to the console and opened the channel. A voice began speaking, "Autobot's! This is Joel. Come in."

"Joel?" Groove didn't know him. "This is the Protectobot, Groove. Can I help you?"

"Yes," he replied. "I need you to connect me with Optimus Prime. It's an emergency."

"Affirmative," acknowledged Groove.

Joel heard another voice within seconds. "Optimus Prime here."

"Hi. This is Joel," he sounded relieved. "I'm at a car wash that is two miles from my house. It's a Decepticon outpost and I'm a prisoner! They're getting ready to take information from my brain. But on the way back to the command center, I have to pass an exit. I'm going to try to escape then," he concluded.

"That's too dangerous," said Optimus, concerned.

"I know. But how else am I going to get out of here?"

"That's a good question," he replied, in thought. "Go ahead and attempt your escape. I'll have someone waiting for you when you come out," concluded Prime.

"Okay, but hurry," pleaded Joel. "I don't know how much time I have left. I have to go," he whispered. "Someone's coming." Joel's communicator signal faded and was gone.

Optimus Prime looked down, reached over and pushed a button on a console slightly to his right. On the screen, in front of him, an image of Breakjammer shimmered into life. "Hello again."

Optimus ignored the greeting. "Joel is in trouble. Locate and rescue him. He's going to try and escape on his way back to the command center. Somehow, you must find that exit and wait for him to come out."

"Yes Sir!"

Optimus Prime could sense the duty and worry in his voice. "Be careful," he said.

With Joel on his mind, Breakjammer transformed and rolled out.

Joel stuck his hands in his lap, hiding the watch just in case the Decepticon that was walking toward his cell became suspicious. Fortunately the robot was just checking on him.

When Astrotrain saw that Joel was just sitting there, he chuckled, turned around and went back to the group.

Joel let out a sigh of relief and laid down, hoping that the Autobot Prime sent would get to the car wash before he left to get his brain drained. Unfortunately, he wouldn't know when the Autobot arrived.

Breakjammer's maximum speed was 400 miles per hour. He could achieve this speed by using his solid rocket fuel packs. He was trying his best to go faster, but he couldn't. He knew he had to get to the car wash as fast as he could. The longer it took, the more trouble Joel could get in.

He took the back roads that led around the town of Willington. Even though is was a longer route, it would enable him to go as fast as he could without having to slow down for traffic.

After Breakjammer had passed Willington, he entered the main road about a half mile from Joel's house. Turning left, he sped towards the car wash. He didn't stop until he reached the back of the Decepticon outpost. Just by looking at it, he could tell that it wasn't just a Car Wash.

He activated his infra-red sensors. A three dimensional car wash was formed on his sensors. He probed more and the three dimensional map changed angle to provide a view from above. He located Joel, the slaves, the command center and even the exit Joel must have been referring to. He started up and drove to the exit. Now all he could do is just watch and wait.

Joel woke to the prodding of Rumble. "Get up, human! It's time."

Frenzy was waiting near the door just out of sensor range. When they reached Frenzy, they went out the door together. Joel knew right where to go, the command center.

The trio stopped in front of the cars leading there. Rumble walked through and stood in front of the exit. Frenzy followed Joel through.

They have to know about my plan, thought Joel. But, knowing their attitudes, wouldn't they be bragging about knowing? He couldn't fight his way through these two. He'd have to figure out another way to escape!

Outside the exit, Breakjammer was watching Joel impatiently. He knew the plan was ruined. He could see Rumble, on his map, in front of the door. Joel began walking down the corridor, followed by the two escorts.

As soon as Rumble stepped away from the door, Breakjammer turned off his scanners and transformed into robot mode. When Rumble was two feet from it, Breakjammer turned invisible, reached out and opened the door.

He ran into the corridor as fast as he could. Rumble and Frenzy turned around as soon as they heard the door open. Joel stopped and casually turned around too.

When Frenzy didn't see anybody come through the door, he blamed Rumble for opening it.

Rumble began to defend himself and stopped. He walked over to the exit and looked outside.

This was a perfect opportunity for Breakjammer. He pointed his null-ray at Frenzy and fired. The small blue Decepticon fell with a metallic thud.

Rumble turned and walked half way back to his friend. He looked down and then up at Joel. He was only a foot in front of Breakjammer.

He deactivated his invisible field just as Rumble raised a thruster gun at Joel and said, "What did you do!?"

Before Rumble could shoot at Joel, Breakjammer rotated on his right leg, kicked out with his left one and smashed Rumble against the corridor wall.

Rumble's gun went flying and he came to rest on the floor in an unconscious lump too.

Joel was standing on the other side of Frenzy. He was too stunned to speak so Breakjammer did. "Come on. Let's get out of here before the reinforcements come."

Joel ran to him, never taking his eyes from the middle size Autobot. They ran outside. Breakjammer transformed into the motorcycle. Without hesitation, Joel climbed on, looking at the weird control panels.

"Hang on tight!" ordered Breakjammer.

Joel did exactly as he was told. Within seconds they were cruising at 300 miles per hour away from the car wash.

Chapter 4

It took Joel and Breakjammer twenty minutes to get to the Autobot headquarters, by using the backroads again. During this time period, Joel did not say one word. He was too busy hanging on for dear life.

They drove into the command center. When he started to transform, Joel slid off and took a couple of steps away from the changing robot. When he was done, "Are you okay?"

"Sure," hesitantly. He looked him up and down and asked, "Who are you?"

"My name is Breakjammer. I am your partner."

"I didn't see you in any of the Tech-... What do you mean 'partner'?" he asked with some surprise.

"First off, I was just recently created by Wheeljack," he replied. And secondly, you are now an Autobot spy and I am your partner."

Joel's jaw dropped in amazement! He couldn't believe what this strange robot had just said. "So, what do we do now?" wondered Joel.

"We, are going to stay here at headquarters and keep you safe," replied Breakjammer.

"Safe from what?" he questioned with concern.

"By now, the Decepticons know that you've escaped and are probably looking for you already. They also, by now, know where you live," he pointed out.

"But what about my mother?"

"I didn't consider her," admitted the Autobot. "We can't risk telling her about us. We would be putting her in even more danger," he concluded.

"Great!" he exclaimed, not ready to give up. "What can we do?"

Breakjammer gave it some thought and finally said, "I don't know. I'm sorry we got you into this mess," he confessed.

Joel looked down at the floor in thought. About a minute later Breakjammer broke the silence, "Maybe Optimus Prime can help us!" Joel smiled at the prospect of hope. Breakjammer put his hand on Joel's back and shoved slightly. They walked out the door.

— 1 —

Rumble got up off the floor and looked at Frenzy. He could hear him humming and assumed he had been shot with a null-ray. He vaguely remembered the exit door opening. He walked over to the door, opened it and say a single, long tire track in the dirt. He heard Frenzy move. The null-ray must be wearing off, he thought. He walked over to his gun and picked it up. Then he went over to help Frenzy.

He got up shakily. The dull-ray was still affecting him. Rumble helped to steady him and asked him what he saw. "I didn't see anything. All I felt was the null-ray and then the floor," replied Frenzy.

"Ratbat's not going to like this."

"He'll find out even if we don't tell him," said Frenzy.

"Come on," said Rumble, pulling Frenzy by the arm. The pair headed for the command center, hesitant about what they would say to their commander. There was no doubt that they would get blamed for the accident and possibly punished.

When they walked into the command center, they saw Ratbat and Soundwave watching a videotape of what they assumed had just happened. They finished watching the tape and waited in silence for Ratbat's rage.

He turned around slowly and calmly, "I'm not going to hut you, because I know that what happened was not your fault.

Frenzy and Rumble looked at each other in astonishment.

"But!" he startled them with the sudden loudness of his voice. "If you two do not destroy Joel Knafe, I will hurt you. I am putting you two in command of this mission. You may use anybody you need to in order to succeed. I don't need a puny little human revealing our location to anyone!"

He turned to Soundwave and said, "You will be in charge of moving the slaves and machinery to the air strip."

"As you command," said Soundwave in his low monotone voice.

Ratbat turned his head toward the pair and yelled, "What are you two waiting for!"

They both turned and ran out the door.

— 2 —

Joel and Breakjammer ran into the maintenance room and found Optimus Prime laying on a table with Hoist leaning over him. "Prime! We need your help," he announced with urgency. Hoist looked over his shoulder at Joel and stood up strait. Optimus raised himself up on his elbows and looked at him too. "I see everything worked out just fine," he observed. "I'm glad you're both okay," he added, glancing back and forth between the two of them. "What can I help you with?"

Joel looked up at Breakjammer as he began to speak. "I asked Joel to move into the headquarters for his own safety but his mother is in danger now too."

"And we can't risk telling her about the Autobots 'cause that'll put her in even more danger," interrupted Joel.

"You're right," agreed Prime.

"We thought that you could help us find a solution to our problem," continued Breakjammer.

"I do have a solution," he said. "Joel can stay at his house, but you will have to stay there with him."

Breakjammer thought it over and said, "That sounds reasonable."

"But what am I going to tell my mom when she sees you?" worried Joel.

"Make up something," suggested Prime.

Joel looked at his partner and said nothing. He was thinking up an excuse to tell his mother. "We should get home," he said finally. "She'll be worried if I don't get home soon."

"Okay then, let's go," said Breakjammer as he transformed. Joel climbed on and drove out of the room, through the corridors, and towards town.

Five miles from town, Breakjammer said, "What are you going to tell your mom?"

"You'll find out," he replied, teasingly. He leaned forward more, hugging the cycle closer. The front was covered in a shield that protected the handlebars as well as the whole front of the bike. It bubbled out to protect his hands also.

When they entered the town, Breakjammer slowed to thirty five miles per hour. Some of Joel's friends waved at him when he drove down mainstreet. He proudly waved back. Breakjammer accelerated to fifty when they hit the dirt road leading to Joel's home.

There was only one light on in the house that Joel could see. Breakjammer stopped in front of the garage. Joel dismounted and opened the garage door. He pushed Breakjammer in and quietly shut the door behind him. Breakjammer turned on his headlight as he was being pushed in.

"You can stay in here for tonight. I'll be back later," he said as he went into his room. He turned on his desk lamp and just as he went to sit on his bed, he heard his mother knock on the door. Oh great, he thought. I have to make up something now! "Come in."

She opened the door and stepped in. "Where have you been?" she asked sternly.

Show time. "I was working late," he said hastily. "I'm sorry."

Surprised, his mother asked, "Working. What do you mean, 'working'?"

"I wanted to surprise you. I've only been working for a few months, but I've managed to save most of the money. You weren't supposed to find out."

He stood up and walked over to the door that led to the garage. He just stood there as he continued. "I went to the junkyard and the car lot, looking for cheap parts for a motorcycle that I bought from a friend. With all the money, I had someone rebuild it so that it would look brand new." He turned the doorknob lightly.

"Tonight, after work, I went and paid for the rest of it and brought it home." He flung the door wide and turned on the light.

She walked over and stared at the motorcycle. "What do all those gadgets do?" she asked, stunned.

"They're just there for looks. They don't do anything." In his own mind he was asking the same exact question.

After his mother was done staring at Breakjammer, he shut the door and sat down at his desk. She walked over and stood next to the door again. After giving her speech about exerting himself, but shouldn't have deceived her, she said, "I'm going to bed." She walked out of his room, shutting the door behind her.

"Great story," Breakjammer praised.

Joel looked down at his watch. The Autobot's voice had come through it. He brought it closer to his mouth and said, "I thought I could only contact others on this thing?"

"Nope. I can also contact you, but only without that stupid beeping noise," he corrected.

"Why am I talking to you through this thing?" he said aloud, but more to himself.

"You think I know?" he counterquestioned.

Joel walked over to the door, opened it, and just stood there. "If you want to transform, you can. My mom's in bed," he informed.

"Good. I like my robot form better." He transformed and sat in the middle of the garage floor. "What are we going to do tomorrow?"

"I thought maybe we could go ask Prime about rescuing those slaves. My friend Aaron is there. And some other friends too.

"Rescuing people is not as easy as it seems," said Breakjammer.

"I know, but we have to rescue them sometime," he admitted.

"But only after planning," pointed out the Autobot. "You can't just jump right into things."

"That's why I want to talk to Prime tomorrow," he said. He left the door open and went to bed, "Goodnight."

— 3 —

The door to the detention chamber opened and Frenzy and Rumble walked in. They walked over to Starscream, who was sitting in a chair watching a television monitor. It blew up with a blast from Starscream's arm laser. He pivoted around and faced the pair. "What do you want?!"

Rumble spoke up and said, "Ratbat put us in command of a 'death squad'. We want you to take us to the air strip," he continued.

"What do I get out of it?" he questioned selfishly.

"You may get to be the 'death squad'," tempted Frenzy.

Starscream thought about it for a moment and then commented, "I hear we're abandoning this dump."

"Yeh, a slave escaped with the help of an Autobot," responded Rumble.

"An Autobot at this installation?" laughed the lieutenant commander. "That just goes to show the leadership capabilities of Ratbat," he completed. "Is it the human who we have to exterminate?"

"Yes," replied Frenzy.

"We might even get to tangle with an Autobot too," prodded Rumble.

Starscream raised both hands over his head and fired at the ceiling twice. The blasts created a huge hole. "Jump in," he ordered as he transformed. Right when the canopy closed over the pair, he flew through the hole.

— 4 —

In another part of the car wash, Ratbat was busy talking to the Triple Changers. "Octane, Astrotrain, and Blitzwing, transform and load up all the slaves you can carry and take them to the air strip." Octane turned and walked away from his commander with the other two following.

"Oh, Blitzwing. Tell the Stunticons to transport some slaves as well," added Ratbat. Blitzwing didn't bother to acknowledge him, he just kept walking.

When he entered the detention chamber, he saw Octane and Astrotrain staring at the hole in the ceiling. "What happened here?" he asked.

"I don't know," he answered.

"The Stunticons say that the idiot Starscream did it," completed Astrotrain.

Octane looked at him ungratefully for completing his sentence.

"Speaking of the Stunticons," remembered Blitzwing. "Ratbat wants them to transport some slaves too."

"Great!" exclaimed Wildrider. "I like to bounce humans around inside me."

"None of them must be hurt," commanded their leader, Motormaster. "Those slaves are valuable."

An image appeared on a monitor next to the one that Starscream destroyed. "You may keep any of the slaves that you transport," informed Ratbat.

Octane went over to one of the cells, rounded up the slaves into one corner, and then deactivated the energon bars. They just stood there. Octane and the other robots heard a strange noise and turned to see what it was. The opposite wall was opening with a metal grinding sound. "I was wondering what the easiest way out of here was," Octane chuckled. He walked outside and transformed. The slaves he selected climbed aboard his jumbo-jet mode. He started his engines and flew away.

Astrotrain selected a group of slaves and transformed too. The slaves were transported in shuttle form away from the base.

Motormaster went over to the cell that Aaron occupied and deactivated it. He transformed into a semi-truck and all of the slaves except Aaron got in. "You," he referred to Aaron. "Can ride in my cab." He went to the driver's door and climbed in.

The last energon cell was left for the other Stunticons and Blitzwing. They divided the slaves up evenly between them and then departed from the installation.

Chapter 5

Out from the blackness of space, Astrotrain came roaring into Earth's atmosphere. He started to descend to the ground just outside of Willington city limits. He spotted the railroad tracks that lead through the air strip. When he got right over them, he gradually lowered himself. Within inches of the tracks, he transformed into his third mode, a train. Hitting the tracks, he chugged away at full speed.

He was sure that the other Decepticons had beat him to the Strip, but he couldn't resist the chance to speed around the Earth's orbit a few times. After a few minutes on the tracks, his radar detected another vehicle heading straight for him. This made Astrotrain very excited. He liked to run other trains off their own tracks.

He saw the other train before the engineer saw him. The pure excitement made Astrotrain speed up as much as he could.

The brakes of the other train were activated when the engineer finally saw Astrotrain. The Decepticon laughed. He knew the other train did not have enough time to stop. Slowing down wouldn't do it any good either, because Astrotrain was going to ram anyway.

The engineer ran to the back of the train to avoid as much injury as he could. On his way through the train, he began yelling, "We're going to crash!" This put everyone into a panic. Everyone got out of their seats and began running around hysterical.

At the last second before impact, Astrotrain transformed into a shuttle mode and flew over the train. He flew to the middle of it, turned one hundred and eighty degrees and flew toward the engine. Right before he got to the front, he shot the connection between the engine and the first car. The shot made the engines brakes release, making it go even faster. He turned around again and flew past the train and landed on the ground.

As he transformed into robot mode, the slaves jumped to the ground. He jumped into the air and flew to the front of the train. When the train started to pass, he stopped it by jumping onto the tracks and grabbing it. After the train stopped, he picked it up and turned it around. He then put the train back on the tracks.

The slaves climbed aboard the train and rounded up all the other humans. Astrotrain stood on the tracks in front of the train and transformed into train mode. He backed up until he felt himself hook up with the other train. After this little task was completed, he started pulling the train to the air strip.

— 1 —

The warmth of the sun came through the window in Joel's room, waking him up around nine o'clock. Groggily, he sat up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. The past day was the first thing that ran through his mind. He was also quite hungry. He decided that before he would, he would take a shower. He grabbed his robe as he climbed out of bed. Wrapping it around him, he padded down the hall to the shower.

His mother heard the water when he turned the shower on. She walked out from the kitchen and looked down the hall. She returned to the kitchen and wrote a note for Joel and left it by the phone.

She went out to the car, warmed it up and drove away. Breakjammer heard her leave and opened the garage door. Earlier, he had scanned the property and found a barn. It would be a much better place to hide. Just in case... on his way away from the house, he scanned it to find Joel. He was satisfied when he found him in the shower.

He took the longest shower he could stand. It felt too good, but he couldn't stand the anxiety he was feeling. He wanted to get out and ride Breakjammer, find Aaron and the other people.

He put his robe on without drying off. Everything was colder than before. He put on some clothes and went to the kitchen for breakfast.

He found a box of cold cereal. After dumping some of it into a bowl, he drenched it in milk. Leaning against the counter, he ate it. When he was done, he threw everything into the sink. As he started to leave, he passed the phone and found the note. It read;

I'll be back soon, I just went to get the car washed before everyone gets there.

Love Mom

Joel dropped the note and ran to the garage. Breakjammer was gone! He brought his wrist to his mouth and spoke into the watch, "Breakjammer! Where are you?"

"I'm in the barn," he replied, to Joel's relief.

"Why? Why are you in there?"

"Just as a precaution."

"Get over here as fast as you can!" ordered Joel. "We have to..." The sound of a car engine interrupted him. "Nevermind," said Joel, seeing the car. "My mom is back."

He ran out to his mother," Are you okay?"

"What are you talking about? Of course I'm all right."

He searched her with his eyes for any sign that something had happened. He couldn't find anything.

"I just went down to the car wash, down the street, but nobody was there."

"Nobody?!" Joel was alarmed.

"That's what I said. On my way back home, I stopped at the car lot and picked up the paper. Look at the front page," she said, handing him the paper. He took it and read the headlines; GHOST TRAIN COMES HOME. It intrigued him, so he read on.

A mysterious train engine was derailed just outside of Willington. The engineer and the passengers were all missing, along with all the passengers. Investigators think that the train was hijacked somewhere between the abandoned air strip and it's derailment point.

"Thanks mom!" he said as he ran to the barn with the paper in hand. Breakjammer should be very interested in this, he thought.

When he got there, Breakjammer wasn't there either. "Breakjammer!" he yelled.

"What?" asked Breakjammer, as he sat up from under a large pile of hay.

Joel handed him the paper, "Read the front page."

Breakjammer took it and read with amazement and concern. He couldn't believe that the Decepticons were that threatened by the Autobots. He concluded that they had moved their base because a human escaped with the aid of an Autobot. As for the train, well, he didn't know why they hijacked it. Probably for the humans.

"By now the Decepticons know that you're the one that escaped. They'll probably be looking for you. Why don't you and your mom go and do something for awhile? Maybe that will give us enough time to get them off your trail," suggested Breakjammer.

"How long do you think we should be gone?"

"I don't know, maybe a few hours."

"Alright. I'll go suggest something to her now." He left, hoping everything would be alright.

When he returned to the house, he found his mother putting clothes n the washer. "Hey mom. How would you like to go downtown for awhile?"

"That sounds like a good idea," she agreed. "Maybe when I'm done doing clothes."

It disappointed Joel. He wasn't sure if it was vital to leave right now. He didn't want to take any chances.

— 2 —

The morning went on as usual. Joel was bored and a little impatient. His mother was ironing and folding clothes, paying no attention to him. Something disturbed him. The familiar drone of an airplane engine was brought to his attention. It was unusually close to the ground. The urge to look for the plane overwhelmed him. Out the kitchen window he saw an unmarked military jet. Actually it did have one symbol. A Decepticon one!

He knew he did not have enough time to contact Breakjammer and get his help, so he activated his homing beacon and yelled at his mother. "Get out now!"

She just looked at him with an angry glare. Walking towards him, she started talking. He didn't hear a word she said. His attention was given to the sound of the plane getting closer. He ran from the house just as the Decepticon released a concussion bomb.

He turned around once more to see if his mother was still following. She was, but it was too late. He looked at the jet and saw the bomb. He yelled at his mother once more, but the sound of the bomb leveling his house muffled his cries.

Joel was thrown from the house about ten meters. He landed hard against the car. The last thing he saw was Starscream disappearing into the clouds. He then drifted into the cold darkness of unconsciousness.

Joel's homing beacon woke Breakjammer. He ran from the barn just in time to get thrown back in by the explosion. He picked himself up off the ground as soon as he hit and ran to the front of the demolished house.

He found Joel unconscious near the Corvair. He scanned the body for any physical damage. There was nothing serious.

Out from the side of Breakjammer's head came a comlink. It curved around and positioned itself in front of his voice module. He began speaking, "Optimus Prime, this is Breakjammer. I have an emergency."

Optimus' voice came out of the comlink and filled the air. "What is it? What happened!?"

"I'm not sure," he admitted. "I was low on power so I deactivated myself for awhile. I was expecting Joel to wake me up when he left so I could contact you about some important news. Anyway, Joel's homing beacon reactivated me. When I went out to see what was going on, an explosion from the house knocked me back. I got up and found Joel, unconscious. I contacted you to find out what I should do. Should I bring him to Autobot headquarters or should I call an ambulance?"

"Call an ambulance and look for his mother," said Prime.

"Alright. Breakjammer out." He changed frequencies and contacted the hospital. After he told the dispatcher the location of the house, he scanned the house for life.

A holographic scan found Joel's mother under a pile of bricks a wood support beams. He could not believe that anything like that could happen to an organic creature.

He transformed into vehicle form and waited for the ambulance impatiently. When it finally arrived, two humans put Joel into it. Breakjammer stayed at the house for six more hours after they left. He wanted it to be dark when he left. A driverless motorcycle would make people talk.

For Breakjammer, the drive to the Autobot headquarters was long and lonely. Sideswipe was standing outside when he arrived. He transformed and stood next to Sideswipe. The warrior put his hand on Breakjammer's shoulder and asked, "What happened, kid?" Breakjammer started at the beginning and concluded with a nod of understanding from Sideswipe.

"I knew something like this would happen. I should never have gotten him involved in our problems."

"Don't take it so hard. It's not your fault," encouraged Breakjammer. "All he has is a mild concussion," said the Spy.

"That's not all," corrected Sideswipe. "He's also missing his mother now and his home."

"But he has us as his new family and a new home." Breakjammer changed the subject, "Do you know where Prime is?"

"He's in the debriefing room," he answered.

Breakjammer said, "Thanks," as he transformed and drove to the debriefing room.

Instead of walking into the room and disturbing everyone, he stood in the hall pacing back and forth. He must have been pacing for fifteen minutes before Optimus Prime and the other Autobots came out. Prime stood in the doorway motioning everyone out. When all of the Autobots were gone, Breakjammer walked up to Prime and informed him of his situation. "Optimus. I'm sure you know what happened to Joel's mother?" "Yes, I do."

"Someone has to tell him and I want too."

"I'm sorry," said Prime, "But we cannot let you jeopardize our identities by letting you go to the hospital. Make a holographic recording and give it to Spike. I'm sure he'll be happy to deliver it," suggested Prime.

"It's not the same," contested Breakjammer. "It's my fault his mother died. I should have been looking after Joel's family instead of after myself!"

"It's not your fault. It was just a horrible accident," corrected Optimus Prime.

Breakjammer knew there was nothing he could do to change Primes mind. "Alright," he said, with a sparkle in his optical sensors. "Do you know where Spike is?"

"He's probably is his room," he said.

Breakjammer turned and headed for the other human Autobots room. But instead of going to Spikes room first, he went to his own room. He got a holographic recorder and taped a message. When he was done, he took it to Spikes room.

Nobody answered the door when Breakjammer knocked on it, so he entered anyway. the corridor from which Breakjammer had entered illuminated the room as soon as he walked through it. Spike was asleep in the far corner. Breakjammer walked over to a table and placed the recorder on it. Under it, he placed a written note.

Chapter 6

Every morning, Spike woke up around six thirty. He didn't know why, but somehow he had gotten into the habit. Spike was a young man, not much older than Joel, but he had five years of experience with the Autobots.

After he got dressed, he walked over to the table. The contents from his pockets was there from the night before. As he put the objects back into his pockets, he noticed something that didn't belong to him. He picked up the familiar item and looked at it. He looked back down and picked up the note. He could barely read it because most Autobots can't write in English very well. But he deciphered it with some effort:

We haven't met yet, but we will soon. Optimus Prime requested that you take this hologram recording to Joel Knafe. He is in the Willington Hospital.

It had been signed by an Autobot called Breakjammer. He walked over to his desk and pressed the communicator button. It automatically contacted Goldbug. The little Autobot's voice sounded through the speaker, "Good morning Spike."

"Good morning," he replied. "I have to go to the hospital and deliver a hologram to some kid named Joel. Can you drive me there?"

"Sure. I'll be there in a minute."

Spike hit the button again, shutting off the communications. He walked out of the room and waited for Goldbug in the corridor. The little Autobot has always been very reliable, but used to be called Bumblebee. An accident not too long ago gave him a slightly different form and a totally new name... Goldbug.

When he arrived, Spike got in behind the wheel and said, "I don't think we have to give it to him right now. We can check out the town first."

"That sounds like a good idea," said Goldbug. "I haven't been able to get out and roll for a long time."

"I know what you mean," sympathized Spike.

Cruising around Willington was close kin to boring. After familiarizing themselves with it, they went to the hospital. It was near ten when they parked behind it and Spike walked around to the front.

The inside reminded Spike of the maintenance bay on the Ark. Only, the bay was much cleaner.

After a couple of minutes of trying to find the information desk, Spike found a nurse and asked her where to find Joel.

To his surprise, she knew off the top of her head. She gave him directions and pointed down the hall. He thanked her and followed her direction precisely to Joel's room.

He knocked on the door and entered. As he walked around a curtain that hung in his way, he noticed a kid, lying in bed, eyeing him suspiciously. "Hi. My name is Spike."

"Hello," he said plainly.

Spike reached into his pocket and withdrew the holographic recorder. He handed it to Joel and said, "I brought you something."

"Thanks," he said, turning it over and over in his hand. "What is it?"

"It's a holographic recorder. Someone wanted me to give it to you. His name is Breakjammer."

"How do I work it?"

"Point the lens into an open space and press the red button in the upper left corner," explained Spike.

He followed the instructions given and a beam of light was thrown from the recorder. The colored beam created a three dimensional image of Breakjammer at the foot of his bed.

The six foot Breakjammer began speaking, "I would appreciate that the occupants of this room, except for Joel, leave for awhile."

Spike looked at Joel, who was already looking at him, and then courteously left. he didn't close the door all the way when he walked out. He wasn't nosy, he just liked to gather as much information as he could. It was his job. From where he stood, he could hear everything that was said.

A couple of minutes after Spike had gone, Breakjammer began speaking again. "I'm sorry I could not speak to you in person. Optimus Prime thought it would be a good idea for you to go to a human hospital. That way there would be no questions about where you had gone. I feel that all of this is my fault and I will do anything to compensate for your anger! I also have some bad news. Your mother did not survive the explosion."

Joel did not cry. He had done that earlier. He had already been watching a news program and had seen the report about the explosion. "Tonight I'm going to kidnap you from the hospital and we're going to bust some heads!" Joel could hear the anger and frustration in his voice. With those last words, the image faded. He reached over and put the recorder on an end table.

Spike knocked on the door and entered. "All done?"

"Yes," answered the patient.

"It's awfully hot in here. Would you like me to open the window?" suggested Spike.

"Suit yourself," he replied.

Spike walked over to the window and unlatched it. he looked down as he pushed the window panes apart. He saw that Goldbug was still there. Spike turned around and said nothing. Joel's room was on the second floor, facing the back lot. "I should be getting back to headquarters," commented Spike. "It was nice meeting you," he added.

"Likewise," responded Joel. "Sorry I couldn't be more entertaining."

Spike left, found the back door at the end of a flight of stairs. Above the door, a sign read, 'emergency use only'. He decided that this was an emergency, so he exited through the door.

Goldbug saw him open the door and drove over to meet him. Spike got in and said, "Let's go see the Protectobots."

"Why?" questioned Goldbug and he started driving.

"I think that Joel and Breakjammer are going to need some help," Spike predicted.

— 1 —

The new Decepticon headquarters was located fifteen miles from Willington at an old abandoned air strip. The air strip was supposed to be torn down, but the Decepticons made sure that no humans interfered.

In one of the hangers, Starscream was getting the third degree from Megatron. This hangar had been turned into an observation and communication lab. Megatron is the mighty and fierce Decepticon leader. "It was a mistake," whimpered Starscream, who had previously destroyed Joel's house.

"I don't care what it was!" he yelled. "You messed it up and you're going to fix it!"

Megatron, who had always been updated on the progress at the carwash, had also seen the report about the 'unfortunate accident' that befell Joel and his family. The report had stated that Joel was the only survivor. He had been taken to the hospital and treated for his minor concussion. The survival of the Autobot and the human enraged the Decepticon leader. "I want him dead tonight!" commanded Megatron.

"Yes! Yes," cowered Starscream. He ran out of the hangar to find the Battlechargers.

The Battlechargers weren't all too reliable, but they would gladly do something if it meant destroying something.

Starscream found them at the energon containment system. "I have a mission for the two of you," he screeched.

"Like what," asked Runabout, a black sportscar.

"What's in it for us?" questioned Runamuck, selfishly. He was a white sportscar.

"Maybe the destruction of an entire hospital," tempted Starscream. It was not exactly what the Battlechargers preferred, but it was destruction.

"Alright," said Runabout. "When?"

"Tonight. An hour or so after it gets dark, "said Starscream triumphantly. He explained the details of the operation and departed satisfied.

— 2 —

The Protectobot's headquarters was located in the town just in case an emergency demanded their help. It was actually not too far from the hospital and it was not to hard for Goldbug to find. When he and Spike reached the entrance, Goldbug transmitted a certain frequency and the door swooshed to the side. Once inside, and the door was shut, he let Spike out and transformed.

Their headquarters was similar to the bridge of a star cruiser. With the leader, Hot Spot, in the middle, and his four team mates around him. Two in back, and two in front. each team member, except for Hot Spot had some type of control console. As Spike walked up to Hot Spot, their heads all turned to watch him. Spike got the feeling that he was late to class.

Standing next to his chair, Spike began to speak, "Tonight Breakjammer is going to take Joel from the hospital and then they are going to attack the Decepticons. I don't know when, but I would guess sometime tonight. Would you do me a favor and help them if they do attack?"

"Sure. That's what we're here for," reminded Hot Spot.

"Thanks a lot," he said, as he ran back to Goldbug. When he saw Spike returning, he transformed and they took off home.

— 3 —

It was the most dreariest day that Breakjammer had ever experienced. Actually, it was the only one. The day was going by so slowly. He was just experiencing loneliness. The few minutes before the time he designated to leave was the most unbearable. He assumed that not many people would see him at eleven at night. As soon as his internal clock struck eleven, he was out on the road. The hospital was only minutes away as far as Breakjammer was concerned.

When he arrived at the hospital, he holo-scanned it. Joel was in a room located at the back of the building. He drove back there and transformed. He doubted that Joel was asleep, but you never know about humans.

Breakjammer was tall enough so that he was standing directly below Joel's window. He bent down, picked up a small rock and crushed it between his fingers. Some of the very small and minute pieces fell from the spaces between his metal fingers. The remaining particles were tossed lightly up to Joel's window.

They rapped on the glass like hail stones on a car hood. Several seconds after the pebbles were thrown, Joel appeared at the window. He opened it and looked down. He was relieved when he saw Breakjammer. He had assumed that it was, but with all of the strange things that had been happening lately, he wasn't sure. He turned around while sticking his arm out the window, with his index finger pointing up.

Breakjammer looked up, but didn't see anything. When he looked back at Joel, he was gone. then he remembered that the index was also used as a sign to wait a moment. Joel soon returned to the window fully dressed. Breakjammer was relieved when he saw that Joel still had his watch.

Breakjammer pointed his arm up toward the window. His hand slid into his wrist and out shot a cable with a hook on the end of it. The hook caught on the window sill. Joel climbed out and slid down the metal cable. When he reached the spot where Breakjammer's hand should have been, he repositioned his hands and swung to the ground. Breakjammer flipped his arm and the hook came away from the window. As it fell, he reeled in the cable. After the cable and hook had disappeared inside his wrist, his hand reappeared.

"Are you ready and willing?" asked Breakjammer.

"Yes," he replied.

"Good," said Breakjammer, as he transformed. Joel climbed on and started to position himself.

While Joel was positioning himself on Breakjammer, Runabout and Runamuck burst through the bushes, firing at them. The Autobot was not aware that Joel was not safely secure and went from zero to thirty five in tow seconds. Joel was thrown off!

As soon as he realized that his passenger was gone, he turned around and drove between Joel and the Battlechargers. He transformed and activated his force field so that there was a wall between him and the ambushing Decepticons.

"Get up! We've got to get out of here!" yelled Breakjammer as he transformed again.

Joel picked himself up off the pavement and secured himself. Fortunately, Breakjammer succeeded in keeping the forcefield in position as he transformed. Joel said, "Ready."

Breakjammer deactivated the force field and drove off as fast as he could. The Battlechargers both transformed and followed, but Breakjammer was too fast for them. the only thing they could do, was track them.

Unbeknown to Breakjammer, Joel, or the Battlechargers, the Protectobots, who had monitored the little confrontation, were waiting for the Battlechargers. they remained hidden until Breakjammer and Joel passed. After they had passed, the Protectobots made an energon roadblock for the Battlechargers.

When the Battlechargers finally arrived, they transformed. As Runamuck went over to deactivate the roadblock, the Protectobots ambushed them. The battle was unsuccessful on the Battlechargers part. They knew that the direction Breakjammer had gone, would eventually take them to the air strip. They then retreated the direction they had come.

The Protectobots laughed as the Battlechargers retreated. All except for First Aid, who did not like to fight. As if by some signal, all the Protectobots transformed into vehicle mode and drove in the direction Breakjammer had gone. Blades, the rescue helicopter, took to the air.

— 4 —

Instead of ambushing right away, Breakjammer and Joel turned off the road and made an attempt at an organized plan. After discussing possibilities and the impossibilities, they just sat there for awhile.

"The Battlechargers haven't passed us yet," observed Joel.

"You're right. I couldn't have gone that fast!" said Breakjammer.

When the Autobot drove off the road, Blades notified the other Protectobots and they pulled off too. The helicopter just flew around, making sure that he wasn't detected by Decepticon equipment.

By one o'clock, Breakjammer and Joel were as confused as ever. The Battlechargers never passed. Could they have given up? "Let's go," said Breakjammer.

They weren't too far from the air strip. So, the first part of the plan, where they had to sneak around the back and find a back entrance, was initiated. The front door would have meant their slaughter.

After searching for awhile, they found a suitable place to enter the compound. To their dismay, it was getting lighter outside. The Spy pulled out his particle beam and cut through the chainlink fence that surrounded the air strip. He helped his partner through and followed him through the hole.

They both ran over to the wall of a hanger that they had entered behind. A quick scan found humans working on machines and other technical equipment. "While we're here, we might as well rescue the slaves," suggested Breakjammer.

"I got an idea," said Joel. "Why don't we find their power generator and destroy it?"

"That sounds like fun," agreed Breakjammer. "That way, they have no power to run their computers, scanners, and energon containment systems."

— 5 —

Making sure that they were not detected by surveillance cameras, Breakjammer and Joel quietly made their way around the hangers, in search of the generators. Unbeknown, Motormaster and his favored slave, Aaron, were following close behind.

Earlier, Motormaster had gone to get Aaron from his cell. When they came out, they saw Breakjammer and Joel sneaking around. Instead of shooting first, like normal, he decided to see what they were up too. He knew full well that he could prevent them from doing any permanent damage.

"According to my sensors, the generator is in this next hanger," informed Breakjammer after he scanned all the hangers within range.

"How much heat is it giving off?" asked Joel.

"An enormous amount," he answered. "Why?"

"Instead of getting too close, and getting caught in the explosion, your heat seeking missile should be adequate enough to destroy it. We'll be safer too," he explained.

"Hmm," said Breakjammer. Why didn't I think of that, he thought.

The conversation was overheard by Motormaster. He didn't want the Autobot and human to escape this time, so he called the other Stunticons. "Report immediately behind the maintenance hanger. I've got an Autobot over here and he'd better not escape!" Within a couple of minutes, four Stunticons came swooping down out of the sky. They all landed next to their leader, Motormaster.

Blades had spotted the flying Stunticons and watched where they went. "Hot Spot. This is Blades. The Stunticons are preparing to attack them...I think."

"Just wait and see how Breakjammer reacts. If anything happens, that shouldn't, contact us, then attack. We will be there soon." ordered Hot Spot.

"Affirmative," replied Blades.

Breakjammer reached his right hand up to steady the missile launcher on his shoulder. "You should get behind me, just in case." After Joel had done what Breakjammer had requested, Breakjammer fired the missile.

He had fired before the Stunticons had time to react. When he saw that the explosion was going to engulf them, Breakjammer activated his force field. the view from inside the protective bubble was spectacular! Joel had never seen anything so bright and beautiful, yet deadly at the same time. The feeling of immediate danger caused all the hairs on his body to tingle.

When the explosion had dissipated, Breakjammer deactivated the field and looked at Joel and said, "I'm sorry I keep putting your life in danger!"

Joel responded by saying, "It's not your fault. It was my idea."

Breakjammer didn't reply.

"Why don't we find someplace to hide until all the commotion dies down," suggested Joel.

They both turned around to go in the direction they had come, then they stopped...face to face with the Stunticons. They were all a little scorched, but not badly hurt.

"Nice of you to join us Autobot," said Motormaster.

Breakjammer rotated his hologram projector to point behind himself. He then cast a hologram of Defensor flying towards the group.

When the Stunticons saw Defensor, they fled. Wise idea. Defensor was more than a match for the Stunticons, and they knew it!

When they were out of sight, Breakjammer shut off the hologram. The image of Defensor then broke into a million particles, shimmering from view. Joel looked at Breakjammer in astonishment. His resourcefulness amazed him.

"What do we do now?" asked Joel.

"I don't know," answered Breakjammer. "If we're going to go make trouble, lets go sabotage their maintenance bay."

"What is that going to accomplish?"

"Nothing, I suppose. It's just something to do," he admitted.

Breakjammer's quick thinking amazed Blades also. Blades reported what had just happened, to Hot Spot.

"Spike may have underestimated him," he said with a satisfied tone.

"Blades out."

As soon as the Stunticons were out of Breakjammer's sight, Motormaster peeked around the object he was behind. The image of Defensor disappeared and he became irate. I'll make them pay for making a fool out of me, he thought. He ducked back down when Breakjammer and Joel started towards him.

Aaron suddenly became very restless. Someone must be calling him. It was getting harder and harder for Motormaster to control him. He also didn't appreciate other robots using his 'chosen' slave.

When Joel reached the bushes in front of Aaron, he burst free, and started running. Joel saw him and ran after him. Breakjammer saw Motormaster come out of hiding. His first reaction was to throw Joel out of the way. Instead, he threw himself at Motormaster.

His weight knocked Motormaster to the ground. He saw his gun fly into a nearby growth of bushes. He got off of Motormaster and ran in the opposite direction Joel had gone. He hoped he had given Joel enough time to catch up to his friend.

Between one of the hangers, he stopped and turned around. Motormaster was not following. He started running in the direction he had left them. It would probably be better to be near Joel in case something happened. He had hoped Motormaster would follow him. He was wrong. He didn't want to make the mistake of getting separated with a Decepticon in the middle.

— 6 —

Aaron ran into the lab. Joel followed. There were some crates near the door, so he hid behind them.

Soundwave was standing near a big pile of energon cubes. Aaron walked over to him and Soundwave said, "The other slaves are working on the generator, so you will help me fill these empty energon cubes. Bring those oil drums over here and as I make more cubes, you fill those with oil."

Aaron walked over to the oil drums. One by one, he rolled them to where Soundwave was standing.

These Decepticons are very lazy thought Joel, as he sneakily made his way toward Soundwave, himself.

Aaron wasn't filling the cubes very fast and Soundwave was getting impatient. Luckily for Aaron, Soundwave was called into the command center. Before he left, he said, "When I get back, those cubes had better be filled." When Soundwave walked out of the lab, he passed Motormaster, but Joel didn't notice.

When Soundwave was out of sight and Joel thought it was safe to come out, he did. He walked out from his hiding place and stood next to the oil drums that had been moved. Aaron was still filling cubes.

Joel cleared his throat and said, "Aaron."

Aaron just kept filling cubes. Joel reached out and grabbed his shoulder. Aaron turned around, spilling some oil on the floor at Joel's feet. He had the look of pain in his eyes. he didn't seem to recognize Joel at all!

"What's the matter?" asked Joel.

"He won't hear you human," said a voice from behind Joel.

He turned around and saw Motormaster pointing a gun at him. Joel's grasp on Aaron tightened. He tried to pull him slowly towards the crates he had been hiding behind, but Aaron wouldn't move. Just as Motormaster shot, Joel pushed Aaron away from himself, hoping neither of them would get hurt. The main idea was to save Aaron!

Breakjammer ran in and tackled Motormaster, throwing his aim off. The beam from his weapon hit the energon cubes and made them explode into a ball of fire. This time he could protect no one but himself.

The explosion threw Aaron to the floor and threw Joel behind the crates. Aaron became unconscious and the fire began tearing at his flesh.

Breakjammer got up off of Motormaster and ran over to where Joel was. Joel was hiding his eyes from the glare and heat. It was too hot to see. He grabbed Joel and ran out of the hanger. Motormaster ran out, stunned and confused.

Somehow, Hot Spot detected the fire and drove to it. He transformed and jumped through the fence. Fire was his concern. No matter whose fire it was, it should be dealt with. When he got into the hanger, he transformed back into vehicle mode. He began to hose everything off. When he found Aaron and saw the damage the fire had done to him , he called Blades.

"Blades! Get here fast!" The command was heard and obeyed. Within seconds, Blades was in the hanger, attending to Aaron.

"It's too serious. He's been burned to a crisp! I'll take him to First Aid and see what he can do for him," said Blades. Without comment from Hot Spot, Blades carefully pickup up Aaron and transformed. He flew Aaron to First Aid and gently put him inside the ambulance. The little computerized machines inside him began working on the injured human with haste. When he got back to the hanger, Hot Spot was gone.

When Breakjammer and Joel were out of the hanger, they began running. they both had no idea of where they were going. Soon they found themselves at the end of the air strip, near a junk pile the Decepticons had made. They turned around to find Motormaster and his Stunticons ready for them again!

The Defensor trick won't work twice, thought Breakjammer. I'll have to fight this one out.

Blades, who had jumped to the top of the half burned hanger, radioed Hot Spot. "I think Breakjammer is in over his head this time!"

"Alright. Hold on. We'll be right there," confirmed the leader.

Within minutes, the other Protectobots were behind the hanger that Blades was watching from. Blades flew down to joint them.

"Protectobots. Merge to become DEFENSOR!" commanded Hot Spot. All of the Protectobots folded themselves into a third mode, rearranging themselves into the form of a giant robot. Groove and Streetwise formed the legs. While Blades and First Aid leaped into position as the arms. they all connected themselves to Hot Spot, who became the torso and head. He loved the combination of his group. He loved the surge of power pulsating through his body the most!

Motormaster began speaking, "Give me Aaron!"

Breakjammer and Joel looked at each other questioningly. "What are you talking about?" asked Joel.

"Give me Aaron!" he repeated.

"We don't have him, and we don't know where he is either. The last place I saw him, was in the hanger that went up in flames," explained Breakjammer.

"The flames are out now, and Aaron is gone. I want him!" said Motormaster.

At that moment, Defensor flew from behind the hanger and trees toward the Stunticons. Motormaster saw Joel staring in the air. He followed his stare and saw the form of Defensor again. He turned back toward Breakjammer and said with amusement, "That won't work twice kid." He laughed again and said, "Stunticons, form MENASAUR!"

The Stunticons also changed into a third mode and started rearranging themselves. After the transformation, a huge gun and sword materialized from no where. "This time you will answer to me...Menasaur!" said the giant robot. He thrust out one leg, kicking Breakjammer into the pile of junk. The kick grazed Joel, but still made him go flying a few yards. When he landed, he tried to get up, but it hurt too bad. From his loss of breath, he assumed he now had a couple of broken ribs.

Menasaur turned around to see if the Defensor projection was still there. To his surprise, it was. He brought his gun up into position, aimed and fired.

Defensor, in mid-flight, banked and let the blast from the gun go past him. After he leveled himself in the air, he brought his legs down slowly and erected himself. He then lowered himself to the ground. Defensor aimed one of his fireball cannons at Menasaur.

Menasaur, who still thought Defensor was a projection, stood still and took the whole blast. the fireball did nothing to him. After it had dissipated off him, he realized that his opponent was not a projection at all!

He raised his sword to a fighting position and charged! Defensor put his hands together above his head and waited. As soon as Menasaur got within thirty-five feet of him, he activated a force dome. At its base, it was thirty feet in diameter.

Menasaur, who was not prepared to hit the dome, took his own charging damage. The dome reflected him about ten feet away. His impact with the ground created an earthquake-like vibration.

Defensor brought his arms down and the dome was deactivated. He then jumped onto the downed robot and began pummeling him with his fists. Menasaur's endurance was low and he was beginning to lose power, so the Stunticons disengaged and became their separate robot forms again.

Breakjammer ran over to Joel and picked him up carefully. He transformed carefully, managing to keep Joel on his back. "I saw you had trouble getting up?" Breakjammer said questioningly.

"I think I broke something," he replied.

The Protectobots separated also. Blades transformed and rose into the air. Motormaster saw Breakjammer and transformed into semi mode. The he started toward them at ramming speed. He was not going to let them get away alive! Nothing can withstand one of his charges. Except maybe Optimus Prime.

"Here we go again!" announced Breakjammer. "When he gets close enough, we'll turbo over him. Hang on tight!" He started his engine and drove head on towards Motormaster. Wanna play chicken Motormaster?" He didn't expect him to hear, but just in case...

Out of the corner of his eye, Hot Spot saw Motormaster speeding towards Breakjammer and vise a versa. While this game of chicken was being played, the Stunticons and Protectobots were engaged in hand to hand combat. When Hot Spot turned his head in disbelief toward Breakjammer, the Stunticon, Dead End, whom he was fighting with, raised and steadied his weapon on his target...Breakjammer. His aim was disturbed only by the movements of the racing cycle.

The laser blast passed over Hot Spots shoulder and passed along the side of Motormaster and hit Breakjammer's tire, causing it to explode. Hot Spot turned and clocked him. then turned back to see what damage was done.

The tire exploded within thirty feet of Motormaster. His instincts made him put on the brakes. Motormaster laughed and pushed himself a little harder.

Putting on the brakes caused him to go into a 360 degree spin. As he started, Joel flew off toward the oncoming semi-truck! When he was launched, he looked at Motormaster and feinted with the fear of knowing what was going to happen. Breakjammer transformed and sat there. he did not have time to get out of the way. The actions that followed happened to fast.

Joel flew into the grill of Motormaster and was repelled back toward Breakjammer. He didn't have far to go, because then Motormaster was on top of Breakjammer. Since Breakjammer didn't have time to position himself to get out of the way, he got smashed by the impact also. When Joel was repelled by Motormaster the first time, he hit Breakjammer and was repelled yet again. This time he went through his windshield

Motormaster stopped when he passed Breakjammer's body. He wasn't dead, but his body was almost destroyed. He transformed and let Joel's limp form fall to the ground.

While he was transforming, Blades fired one of his 'smart rockets' at him. It hit on his left side. The explosion threw him far enough away for Blades to get to Joel. He flew down and gently pulled him inside.

Hot Spot ran over to Breakjammer and picked him up. He yelled over his shoulder to the other Protectobots to retreat.

The other Protectobots jumped into the air and flew in the direction of the Autobot headquarters. Breakjammer shut himself down, preparing to die.

Behind the retreating robots on the ground, the Stunticons cheered for their first victory. Megatron and Soundwave had been standing nearby, watching the little battle. Megatron felt proud. He could tell this was the start of something good.

"Soundwave, eject Laserbeak. We'll find out where their new headquarters are," ordered the leader of all Decepticons.

Soundwave touched a button on his left shoulder and said in a very low monotone voice, "Laserbeak, eject." The transparent plate on his chest opened and a red and black cassette tape flew out and transformed into a condor-like robot. "Operation, location." Those last words completed the command.

The transparent plate closed and Soundwave said, "Incoming message. Trypticon is asking for permission to land."

"Permission granted," chuckled Megatron. What a perfect day.

Chapter 7

The Protectobot group went directly to Ratchets lab. Joel was bleeding profusely! First Aid placed Joel on a lab table and went over to speak with the doctor, Ratchet. Hot Spot also laid Breakjammer on a lab table. He then went over to an intercom and called for Wheeljack to come to the lab.

Ratchet and First Aid talked with unheard words by the others. First Aid nodded his head and walked over to Joel. He reached under the table and began hooking up life support systems to energy supplies. He then hooked up tubes and wires to Joel's body.

Wheeljack walked into the room and went directly to Breakjammer. He picked him up and started to leave. As he left, he motioned, with a flick of his head, for Hot Spot to follow. He ran to catch up to the inventor.

He began telling Wheeljack the story, and by the time they reached his lab, the story was over.

"The only thing I can do," began Wheeljack, after giving Breakjammer a thorough examination. "is to redesign him. Motormaster really mangled him. I'm surprised he's still alive," he admitted.

"He sure took a beating," added Hot Spot.

"Might as well get started," said Wheeljack, as he set in to taking Breakjammer apart.

— 1 —

The next day began with the alarm on Joel's life support system blaring deafeningly. He was dying! First Aid frantically tried to stabilize him. He barely succeeded. Instead of Joel dying, he went into a coma. After the hysteria, Ratchet said, "The only way to save him and let him live an almost normal life, is cybertronics."

Cybertronics is a type of surgery. It involves replacing body parts with machine parts. In Joel's case, seventy to eighty percent of his body would be robotic.

Almost every bone in his body was either broken or in many fragments. His backbone was cracked in some places. He also lost a lot of blood and some of his organs were punctured. It was a definite miracle that he was alive too.

"Agreed," said First Aid. "We might be able to finish while he's in a coma," suggested Ratchet.

"That's another thing. We don't know if there's a problem with his brain," First Aid pointed out. "This coma could have been caused by some cerebral complications."

Ratchet walked over to the intercom and contacted Wheeljack. "First Aid and I are going to perform cybertronics o Joel. We would appreciate your help when you have time."

"Sure," said Wheeljack. "Right now I'm repairing Breakjammer. I'll be there as soon as I can." He turned the intercom off and went back to work.

The next few hours, Ratchet and First Aid were busy replacing broken joints, bones, cartilage, and organs with their robotic equivalents. In a sense, Joel was becoming a robot. Everything they added was able to do the things that ordinary body parts could so and some could do more. After the main parts were set, they began working on Aaron.

His condition had remained steady ever since Blades had brought him in. His flesh had been thoroughly burned. First Aid hooked some wires up to him and tested his nervous system. There wasn't one anymore. Electrical currents were run through his body, but nothing would move. Aaron would need minor cybertronics. More like a simple exo-skeleton.

First, they made him two very thin gauntlets, allowing him the use of his hands. They could also disperse small amounts of energy used for stunning. After attaching these so that they wouldn't come off, they proceeded to lay a skin like material all over him. It felt like skin, allowed him to sweat, and it stretched, but it was as durable and resistant as steel.

Imbedded within the skin material were electronic sensors that could detect pressure, heat, cold, pain, and all of the other attributes of regular skin, except for self healing. These sensors were wired into his brain, where his previous nervous system had been connected.

After completing the work on Aaron, they went back and did the same to Joel. His gauntlets were quite a bit more potent because he was an Autobot now and needed weapons, even if they really wouldn't do that much damage to a normal sized Decepticon.

Wheeljack walked into the lab with a box of electronic components when Ratchet and First Aid changed patients. "I don't know what you two need me for, I'm not a doctor."

"We need you to help us make the final adjustments on Joel's cybertronics and to design an exo-suit that will be compatible with Breakjammer," explained the Protectobot.

"I gave Breakjammer a new mode. His body was so smashed that I had to put his brain and everything else I could save, in a different body. So adding an exo-suit to his vehicle mode is not a problem. In robot mode, it could be attached to his back," imagined the inventor aloud.

"Alright. We will leave the technical designs and capabilities up to you. First Aid and I have to find out if this coma is being caused by some cerebral problems. We may need to add computer components to his brain too," said First Aid quietly.

Wheeljack began designing the exo-suit while ratchet and First Aid made scans of Joel's brain cavity. A scan showed a fragment of metal and a fragment of bone lodged in a very sensitive part of the human brain. Where the metal came from is unknown, but the bone had been part of the skull. It must have been broken in one of the impacts, knocking a fragment into his brain.

The bone fragment was the cause of him staying unconscious for such a long time. The metal fragment caused an infection. Because the metal and infection was alien, it spread quite fast, causing him to go comatose. The next step was surgery.

For the Autobots, surgery on humans was very simple, so it didn't take long to remove the fragments. Unexpectedly, they had to remove a section of his brain too. That section was too infected to save. The removal of that section would also save the rest of the brain.

"Wheeljack. We will need some brain compatible components afterall," said Ratchet sadly, holding up a section of blackened brain tissue.

The section controlled the logic and intelligence of Joel. He would still possess his memory, but without the brain components, he would not be able to solve the simplest of mathematical equations, like two plus two. He would be a vegetable.

The components would give him a higher intelligence and his logic would be greater also. Since they were inside his brain cavity, they decided to add other cybertronic parts, for his benefit.

"How does this look?" asked Wheeljack suddenly.

First Aid didn't look up until he was done closing up the brain cavity. Ratchet looked up and was stunned by the suit of armor. It had an aura of intimidating power to it.

The suit was a gloss black. A set of handlebars protruded from the neck. It reminded ratchet of an Earth movie he had seen called Frankenstein. The monster had short bolts that came out of his neck. The handlebars were in such a position that it looked like the suit had foot long bolts coming from the middle of its neck too.

"Right now, I have it on remote control so that I can show you what it can do," he explained. Wheeljack opened his hand and pushed a button on a box that was in it.

The exo-suit changed into a bike. The frame was quite odd! Instead of there being an open space above the peddles, the area was enclosed. It was like a motorcycle without a motor, and not as bulky.

The forks on the front wheel had a peg on either side. Wheeljack pressed another button and a panel on each side of the enclosed area opened revealing two laser machine guns.

"The hand grips are sensitive to pressure. Each of Joel's fingers activates something. Like, for example, his right index finger activates the guns. If he presses it again, they fire. the comlink is voice activated," he explained.

"If he's not with the exo-suit, he also had a thought activated comlink in his head," informed First Aid, finishing his work and looking up. "The comlink on the exo-suit only contacts Breakjammer," admitted Wheeljack.

He pressed the first button and the bike changed into the suit again. "It also has anti-gravity devices. They don't allow him to fly fast, but if he is unconscious and damaged, they will be able to get him home," said Wheeljack. "Oh, also. I need the brain frequencies of the components in his skull, for the exo-suit helmet."

"How does he get inside of this," asked ratchet, pointing at the suit.

"You saw how it looked like it turned inside out every time it changed, right? Well, when he presses one of the sensors on the hand grips, it folds around his body. It will take him some practice and getting used too, but soon it will be just a fact of like. The practice will be used for not getting himself in the way of the transformation. When inside the suit, the helmet works on brain waves. A certain wave pattern will make the suit change," he explained.

"I assume you made Joel so that he can change himself along with the suit. Afterall, isn't that why you wanted it? So he could change?" asked the inventor.

"Yes, he is able to fold his body unlike regular humans," admitted First Aid.

"Good. When inside the suit, he will also be able to transform into Breakjammer's gun," boasted Wheeljack.

"Great!. What kind?" asked Ratchet.

"An electrostat rifle."

"What's that?" asked the doctor.

"Well, first of all it fires a shell. Secondly, on impact, it blows up and releases a cloud, of sorts. The cloud absorbs all types of energy and will leave the target unconscious. Say for example, one robot gets shot and there is a six inch space between him and another robot. The cloud will spread and envelope the second robot too. It will keep spreading until there is more than a one foot space between it and another energy source. After all the energy is gone in its range, it evaporates," he explained.

— 2 —

Laserbeak went unnoticed as he followed the Protectobots to the Autobot secret headquarters. As he flew, he sent back video transmissions to the Decepticons. Soundwave watched and recorded the video pictures. Megatron was too excited about the arrival of Trypticon and who knows who else inside him, to watch videos.

Trypticon landed in a field next to the air strip. He was in dinosaur mode. Megatron flew over to him as soon as the Decepticon city was secure. Trypticon looked down at him and transformed into his metropolis mode.

Out from the main entrance and exit, came several groups of Decepticons. The group consisted of the Predacons, Gnaw, Clones, and Shockwave.

Shockwave walked up to Megatron, saluted him and said, "Hello, leader, Megatron. I accompanied this band of Decepticons here to earth, after making the Autobots think the remaining Decepticons were on Charr."

"Good," rewarded Megatron, amused as well. "We have made our first victory here in this energy rich town. The inhabitants of this place have no idea how much energy is here and where."

Soundwave jumped down out of the sky after receiving the transmissions on the location of the Autobot headquarters. "Laserbeak has located the Autobots."

"Superb!" said Megatron exuberantly. "We will attack soon."

Even though the Decepticons that had just arrived knew nothing about the past week or two, they still cheered loudly.

Chapter 8

Cybertron's night sky was lit as the engines of an Autobot shuttle craft were ignited. The shuttle was occupied by four robots, Springer, Broadside, Sandstorm, and their leader Six Shot. They were all Triple Changers.

Their mission was to find out were Trypticon was going. The remaining Autobot freedom fighters would follow later.

At the same moment that they escaped Cybertron's gravity, Trypticon turned his head and shot at them. The blast made contact with the shuttle and damaged it. They had two choices, turn around or keep going. Following them later would be no problem, but if they kept on following they might not make it.

Six Shot decided to turn around. He tried to reset the navigational computer, but it would not respond. There was no way they could return to Cybertron now. He turned to his comrades and said, "You three get into the preservation capsules. I don't know how long this ship will hold together.

If everything turns out okay, then I will wake you up. If not, then you guys will be reactivated later.

Springer wanted to protest, but he knew it was useless.

The preservation chambers were used for long trips, usually. They were indestructible tubes that deactivated its occupants and kept them safe. They would set a timer for reactivation and then go to sleep. When their time was up, the chamber would reactivate the occupants.

Sandstorm set the timers for a respectable amount of time. Then they all climbed in. They had no idea where they were going, nor how long it would take to get there. They just hoped it would all be over by the time they woke up.

Six Shot leaned back in a chair and waited for the journey to end.

Several hours later, the shuttles power began to fade. Trypticon noticed the shuttle start to slow down, so he turned around. Before, he had no idea that he had damaged the ship. Now, the shuttle was losing power and would not be able to maneuver. Both the shuttle and Trypticon were in orbit above a tiny blue planet.

Trypticon shot once and hit the ship causing it to shoot into the planet's atmosphere like a meteor.

The shuttle had no defenses, so the triple Changers were sitting ducks. As it began spinning downward, Six Shot hit the ejection button for the chambers.

He heard the rush of escaping air and looked out the windows. In the middle of one of the rotations, he saw a preservation chamber streak toward a mountain range. He sat down and not knowing what was in store for him, he deactivated himself. Several minutes later, the shuttle craft crashed into the middle of the Antarctic.

The occupants of Trypticon laughed when they saw the Autobot shuttle crash. Trypticon found the Decepticons and changed course. The new course lead him directly to a little town in the United States.

— 1 —

Several hours after the Triple Changers had gone, the remaining Autobot freedom fighters left Cybertron also. As they passed Cybertron's two moons, several Autobots separated from the fleet. They separated into two more groups and each group landed on a separate moon. After that little task was complete, the fleet sped off in the direction the shuttle had gone.

They followed the vapor trail the earlier shuttle had left behind for some time before they recognized their course. They were heading toward Earth. With that knowledge, they radioed the Ark, which they knew to be there.

Their transmission was received by the Autobots, but a different location other than the Ark. Ultra Magnus, who was in charge of the fleet, ordered the receiving station to be put on video.

Several miles away from Mt. Hillary, a huge city was built for the Autobots. This city was what Ultra Magnus was looking at. The image changed and the form of Optimus Prime appeared. "Welcome, Autobots," he said.

Ultra Magnus nodded and said, "Thank you. What happened to the Ark?"

"Our numbers grew too great for the Ark, so we built this city and incorporated the Arks structure into it. This great city is our new home," explained Prime. "There is a clear landing area that you may use," he added.

With that last message, the image faded. Ultra Magnus heard the sound of metal hitting metal and turned in the direction of the sound. He heard it again and was then blown against the opposite wall by a tremendous explosion. Several Decepticons, including Megatron entered the control room and began shooting. All the Autobots in the room were badly injured.

"Thanks for the use of your ship," laughed Megatron.

— 2 —

Shortly after Trypticon arrived at the air strip, they informed Megatron of the Autobot shuttle. Megatron was so excited about the incidents that had occurred earlier, that he wanted to go to the shuttle. Astrotrain flew him and a few other Decepticons to the Antarctic to examine the wreck.

What they found was a mound of twisted metal. They examined the insides as best they could and found the remains of Six Shot. He was mangled also, but still alive. They took him to their headquarters under the ocean and repaired him. They also got every bit of information they could from him before reprogramming him,

They also found out about the fleet that would be arriving. After gaining this vital information, Megatron got a brainstorm. he and another small band of Decepticons left Earth in Astrotrain in a hurry.

After the discovery of Six Shot, several drastic changes occurred in the war. The details of these major battles will have to be found from another source of information. This source of information will only list the major changes.

First of all, Optimus Prime was killed by Megatron. During their last confrontation, Megatron was damaged too. Ultra Magnus became the new Autobot leader, by gaining the possession of the creation matrix from Prime.

The Autobots and Decepticons both came into contact with several new common enemies. The Decepticons were seduced by these enemies and were discarded later. Megatron met a robot of monstrous size that ate planets. His name was Unicron.

This planet eating monster changed him into Galvatron. Two other Decepticons were changed also. One became Cyclonus, who took the place of Starscream. The other became Scourge. He became the leader of a new group of Decepticons called Sweeps.

Before Megatron was changed, Starscream had thrown him out of Astrotrain. He then floated around until he was found by Unicron. After being changed, he found Starscream and blew him to pieces.

The last major battle occurred inside Unicron. Galvatron had gained possession of the Autobot Creation Matrix and the Autobots were out to regain possession of it.

Hot Rod, a young Autobot became engaged in combat with Galvatron and wrestled the Matrix form him. Surprisingly, it opened and did two things. It turned him into Rodimus Prime, the new Autobot leader and destroyed Unicron, leaving his head to float in orbit around Cybertron.

Half of the Autobot fleet went to Earth to help regain the town of Willington. They thought they could help better by staying in orbit. The Autobot technicians created M.E.T.S. (Molecular Energy Transportation System).

— 3 —

A distress signal came over the computers at the Autobot base at Willington. Ratchet read the message and told the others. When they heard that Megatron had hijacked a fleet of starships and had attacked Autobot city, they prepared to leave and to help.

Aaron was recovering well and was conscious. Joel was still unconscious, but he was stable. Ratchet and First Aid, both agreed that putting Joel in suspended animation would be his best protection while they were at Autobot city.

Aaron would have to be taken home. Putting him in suspended animation would prove useless. Wheeljack took Aaron to his house and left him there, promising that he would return.

Ratchet transformed and loaded Joel up. "Shouldn't we connect his memory," questioned First Aid.

"No. When we wake him back up, then we can," preferred Ratchet.

Breakjammer, who was also in the room, said, "You can put me in suspended animation too, just for added protection." Breakjammer had also been changed. He was now a quarter ton truck with a camper shell. He was also much bigger.

"We can each be hooked up to an alarm or something. You know, like when someone enters our hiding place without deactivating the alarm, we wake up. If that happens, I can take care of Joel.

Ratchet looked at First Aid and said, "It sounds good too me."

"Why not?" added First Aid.

"Fifteen miles past the Decepticon wash, there is a small mountain range. If we make a cavern, we can put equipment for a suspended animation chamber there. There way they will be safe and concealed," suggested Ratchet.

First Aid spoke into an intercom requesting that Sideswipe and Grapple wait for them in the command center. They said they would do as requested and then left the room they were in to comply. First Aid and Breakjammer transformed and followed Ratchet out the door.

Soon, they were in the command center with Sideswipe and Grapple. "We need your help to create a cave. Big enough for an Autobot, a human and a few pieces of machinery," explained First Aid.

"Sure we'll help," said Grapple, speaking for Sideswipe too.

"Good. We leave at once," decided First Aid.

"I'll wait here for Wheeljack. We can bring the machines and you won't have to make two trips. Besides, somebody has to tell him what's going on," said Breakjammer.

"Suit yourself," said the doctor, as they left for the mountain range.

Wheeljack returned within minutes. Breakjammer informed him of the plan and Wheeljack seemed satisfied. He led Breakjammer to his lab and told him to transform. Breakjammer did as he was told. Wheeljack began putting crates in the bed of Breakjammer. Wheeljack finished and then led the way out. He transformed and said, "Let's go."

When they reached the mountain range, Breakjammer picked up on Joel's homing beacon and followed it to him. The cavern had already been dug. Sloppily, but adequate.

Breakjammer transformed and dropped one of the crates. He picked it up before anyone noticed. He carried them inside and set them next to Wheeljack. He opened them and began hooking things up.

When Wheeljack was finished, there were two tables with a glass case over each one. Breakjammer was on one and Joel was on the other. There were several machines hooked up to each table.

Wheeljack, ratchet, and First Aid were all standing outside. Wheeljack pushed a button on his arm and the face of a cliff appeared over the entrance to the cave. "If anyone tampers with this hologram, Breakjammer and Joel will wake up. Joel should be conscious in a couple of hours even without the suspended animation chamber," explained Wheeljack.

"Now we have to get back to the base. Jetfire is waiting there to take us to Autobot City," said Ratchet. Within an hour there were only two Autobots in Willington and they were asleep.

Chapter 9

The mountain that was being climbed was for amateurs. And that is exactly what Lori Brannigan was. It was full of flat areas and hand and foot holds. It was almost like climbing stairs. That was the way she liked it, easy.

She loved the outdoors and felt that climbing mountains was a great way to enjoy it. She was tough and witty too. She enjoyed the thrill of danger, and this was the first time she had ever climbed anything like this. She wanted to be sure about her abilities before she took on anything bigger and more dangerous.

At first glance, Lori didn't look like a mountain climber. But, if you looked under her beautiful looks and long wavy red hair, you would find a strong, rugged, hard bodied person that could take anything you threw her way. Unbeknownst to her, but her first climb will be her first big adventure. She would soon have enough excitement to last her a very long time.

She was loaded with equipment, but not enough to inhibit her ascent. She had climbed up one side of the mountain. When she got to the top, she ate lunch. The water in her flask felt great after her long hot climb. Anxious to quench her thirst, she drew from it sloppily. Some water dribbled down her cheek and continued downward, making a trail to her chest. It was cool and left her wanting more.

The other side of the mountain was shaded and she probably would not need her water on the trip down, so she poured some of it on her face, letting the water roll down into her shirt. She lay back in the grass and daydreamed. She thought of past experiences and present problems. She also thought of solutions to problems and 'what ifs'. Then it was time to leave.

She looked down over the edge and saw that there were many flat faces on this side, and not many apparent stopping places. This side will be a little more challenging, she thought. She put her gear back on and started down.

Pulling a small metal spike from her pack, she drove it into the ground. Her rope was connected to the end of it. Then she jumped over the edge, trusting her spike and rope. For a moment it was like flying. The feeling stopped when she ran out of rope and was yanked toward the mountains face. Her legs went out automatically and stopped her from becoming a permanent part of the rock wall.

She rested against the wall, trying to get into a comfortable position. She pulled out another spike and pounded it into the rock beside her. She placed one at her feet so she could cheat and stand on it. Untying the rope from her waist, she tied it to the second spike. Then she yanked on the rope and the first spike flew out of the ground above her like a bullet.

It fell past her and she stopped it by pulling on the rope again. Pulling the spike to her, she untied the rope from it and retied it to her waist. The first spike was put back in her pack. She repeated this technique over and over until she got to the second flat face.

She positioned herself to jump again, carefully testing the rope. As she jumped, she put her legs out to take the impact of the mountain. When she reached the side, she expected to be jostled, but she wasn't! She sailed right on through the rock.

The surprise made her let go of the rope and swing from it upside down. She continued swing in and out of the cavern, trying to untie herself from the rope. When she succeeded, she dropped to the floor.

She straightened her clothes, tossed back her hair and viewed her surroundings. She was in a dark cave that was only lit by two half bubble containers on wheels.

When she took a closer look in one, she could see the form of a young man. The other bubble was huge. Walking over to it, she looked in. No matter how hard she tried, she could not figure out what was in it.

She turned around at the sound of a click. She noticed that the bubble covering the young man was rising. A rush of warm air caught her and she shivered from the change in temperature.

Slowly, she walked over to the table and looked at Joel. His features stunned her. To her, he was alien, although human. His skin was tan against the white light of the table beneath him, and his bare chest intrigued her.

She reached out cautiously and touched his left shoulder. He shivered from her touch. Flattening her hand against his chest, she felt his steady breathing.

He was fully recovered now and that is the way he would stay for the next several hours. Lori went over to the caves wall and sat down. Every once in awhile, she would glance back and forth between Joel and Breakjammer. She put her head on her knees and went to sleep. The excitement and suspense wore her out!

— 1 —

Lori woke with a start. Someone or something had touched her shoulder! She looked up and saw her alien standing there. She blushed a little, remembering that she had touched him earlier. She was shaking from fear too. He looked at her questioningly and Lori felt sorry for him for some reason.

"What is your name?" she asked, hoping that he spoke English.

"I don't know," he responded in short, choppy words.

That bothered her. "How old are you?"

Again he said, "I don't know."

Maybe he has amnesia, she thought. I should get him home and find out where he lives. She was beginning to abandon the idea of him being an alien. He seemed more like someone caught in some weird government experiment. But where does a man sleeping in a bubble, in a recently dug out cave, live? Outerspace was the only place she could think of.

And what was that in the other bubble? A spaceship home? These questions in her mind scared her. "But, nevertheless, I should take you to my house," she concluded, speaking aloud.

She stood up, took off her vest and handed it to him. He took it and gladly put it on. "Come on," she said, as she walked from the cave and into the fading sunlight. Joel followed her willingly, like a puppy that has found a new friend.

Her rope was hanging at the mouth of the cave. It had stopped moving and was hanging in front of the hologram. She grabbed it and yanked. The rope and the spike both came down. She coiled up the rope and put it and the spike into her backpack. The rest of the way down was just walking.

After they reached the base of the mountain, Lori found the road and followed it to where she left her jeep. She had left it on this side of the mountain, knowing full well that she'd be too tired to walk to the other side and get it.

She led Joel to the passenger side and let him in, after unlocking it. She noticed how stiffly he got in and shook her head. After unlocking her own door, she got in and started it up. The tires threw dirt as she floored it.

When they reached her house, it was almost dark. Her porch light was on and the garage door was open. "That's funny. I don't remember leaving that open," talking aloud, to herself as she turned the key off.

Joel looked at her blankly and followed her as she got out of the jeep.

Inside the garage, someone had parked a black truck. It did not have any license plates and Lori didn't recognize it. Very quietly, she opened the drivers door and took out the keys. She dropped them onto the floor below the truck.

The back of the vehicle was loaded with objects from her house. It enraged her that someone was looting it.

She walked to a door in the garage that lead into the house. Quietly she opened it and stepped inside.

Joel went to the front of the truck and stared at it, as if he were trying to make up his mind. Finally he took hold of the bumper and began walking backwards. The truck was heavy, but that didn't stop him from moving it. When it was totally in the driveway, Joel went to the passenger side and began to push. It landed with a thud, on its side. Its load rolled onto the next door neighbor's lawn. He seemed satisfied.

Then he closed the garage door. A padlock was hanging off of the latch. It made a clanking noise against the metal handle. He bent over and locked it. Then he went to the front door. It was unlocked.

He heard the click of the doorknob as he turned it. the weather stops squeaked as he pushed the door open. Soon he was in the house with whoever was in here too. He shut the door behind him and just stood there, listening. Listening for a sound, a clue of where the girl was that had brought him here.

At first he was dazed by the effects of the suspended animation chamber. He still didn't remember anything, except for his name now. He was also having strange thoughts and reactions.

He didn't hear anything so he walked into the living room. It was a mess. Furniture had been overturned and papers were all over the place. Nobody was in it so he moved on into the kitchen.

It was a mess too. In the middle of the floor, sitting in a chair, was Lori. Her back was too him. He went to her and squatted down in front of her so that they were face to face. Her head was bent down and her long hair hung down in her lap.

When she noticed his presence, she lifted her head. A red handkerchief had been shoved into her mouth. As he reached to remove it, a husky voice said, "I wouldn't do that if I were you."

He looked at the doorway and saw three armed men. One man, who was also holding a chair and some rope, walked up to Joel and grabbed his arm. He tried to pull Joel to his feet, but Joel wouldn't budge. Angrily, the man yelled, "Get in the chair!"

Joel did as he was asked. The man moved behind him and tied his hands together behind the chair. "We're finished here," said the man.

The other men walked forward and stood next to the first one. "See ya later," laughed another. They all left through the kitchen door that led into the garage. As they walked through it, Joel brought his arms together in front of him, breaking the rope.

He leapt at the door and slammed it shut. The men started banging on it. Lori stared in disbelief. Instinctively, he grabbed the doorknob and welded the insides. He didn't know how he knew how to do it, he just did.

Now that they were trapped, he went to Lori's aid. He grabbed her ropes and broke them easily.

Without even thanking him, she jumped up and ran to the phone. She called the police and explained everything that had happened, leaving Joel completely out of the conversation. When she hung up the phone, she took Joel into her bedroom and said, "Stay here." He sat down and did what was asked.

When the police arrived, Lori showed them what had happened to the house. She also told them again, what had happened. They asked her about the truck being on its side, and she could only shrug. She really didn't know about it. She did deny knowing about how the door got welded shut. The policemen took the keys for the padlock and unlocked it.

When the door was opened, the three men started to run out, stopping just short of the cops. They threw down their guns, with the knowledge that they would be in worse trouble if they started a firefight. Then they cops read them their rights and took them away, along with their weapons.

Lori sighed in relief, looking at the truck and her possessions. How the truck was moved, was a mystery to her. She walked back into the house and went to the bedroom.

Joel was still sitting in the room right where she had left him. She sat down next to him on the bed. She looked exhausted. "My name is Joel," he said, trying to break the ice.

"What!?" she said, in disbelief.

"I remember my name and that is all," he responded.

"I'm Lori. How did you do what you did in the kitchen?"

"I don't know that either," he chuckled. Did he think his memory loss was funny or was laughing just a stress reliever for him?

The things he did convinced Lori, even more, that he was an alien. "I'm going to change my clothes now," she informed, standing up. Trying to give him a hint to leave the room.

He just sat there watching her.

She had to be direct. "Would you mind leaving?" she asked politely.

"Sure," he replied mechanically.

Something had 'clicked' again. Something kept taking him over. He walked out of the room and kept going. Right out of the house he went.

Willington was familiar, yet he knew nothing about it. His mind was taking in information like crazy and storing it in his head. Some of his friends even thought he was crazy when they walked up to him or yelled at him. He didn't respond to any of them. Soon it was dark and Joel sat down in an alley and fell asleep.

— 2 —

Lori finished dressing and went into the living room. "Joel," she said, noticing that he wasn't there. She called him again as she walked down the hall. She stopped at the front door, seeing that it had been left open. She looked outside and found no sign of him. He must have left, she thought. She ran back into her house, grabbed her keys and went to the jeep.

She searched the whole town until it got too late. Then she went home and decided she would look for him in the morning.

— 3 —

Just as the sun began to rise, Joel woke up. He walked around the town for awhile longer before he got himself into trouble again.

It was quite early in the morning. The time of day when you remember that you ran out of milk the previous night and you need it now. A little boy, around the age of seven, was on his way to the corner store for some and some other items. He was stopped by some rather large boys. They were probably in high school.

They demanded his money and he gave it to them. At first, Joel was just watching. When the boys started harassing the little one, he stepped in to even the odds.

"I don't think you should be doing that," he said, stepping between the boys and the little one.

"And who do you think you are?" asked the biggest one. He was apparently the leader. He didn't give Joel time enough to respond, instead, he tried to push him. Joel didn't budge.

"Ooh. Bad aren't you?" said Joel. "But looks aren't everything."

This enraged the leader. He tried to pick Joel up real fast, but instead, Joel picked him up and threw him. He landed on the other two, knocking them down too.

He walked over to the bully, took the money from him and gave it to the little boy. A good deed done, he walked away.

— 4 —

Lori got up and got dressed. She had some breakfast and then called work. She was determined to find Joel. So she called in sick. Then she took off downtown again.

After several hours of driving around, she parked in front of a store and started walking. If he's not outside, he must be inside, she thought. It was close to lunch time, so she went into a fast food joint. After she ordered, she went to a table and waited. She sat next to a window so she could see Joel if he happened to walk by.

She saw someone set her food on the counter and beckon for her to come get it. She went up to the counter and paid for her food. When she went to sit back down, a person next to her, dropped his fork. They bent down and picked it up. His mechanical movements drew her attention. She was relieved to see that it was Joel. Fate...go figure.

She put her food back on the counter and threw her arms around him. At first, he didn't react. Then he gradually drew his arms up and around her also. She pulled back, regained her composure, and said, "I was worried! I've been looking for you all morning."

The waitress at the counter was watching them intently. Lori looked at her and asked, "Can I have these to go?"

The waitress picked up their food trays and carried them into the back.

"Let's go home," she suggested, when their food was returned to them in bags. Joel stood up and waited for Lori to move first. They both left the restaurant, with Lori leading the way.

Her emotions were confusing to her. She had only known this stranger for a day or so, and yet she like him very much. Other feelings made her feel pity for him too. Although she like him, she felt as if she was leading him around like she would a little boy. That disturbed he very much.

Chapter 10

The next two weeks were uneventful. Lori would go to work and Joel would stay at the house. He still remembered nothing except his name. Lori had become more and more attached to him. She didn't say anything to him about the cave or the other cubicle. Inside, she hoped, he wouldn't remember any of their first meeting.

Some Decepticons had stayed in Willington, even though all of the Autobots had left. This gave them the opportunity to totally take over the small town. The Autobots were few compared to the numbers of the Decepticons.

They began their takeover by turning all of the town officials into slaves. This started a chain reaction that involved the rest of the townspeople. The Decepticons were convinced that the Autobots couldn't interfere now, without endangering the people of Willington. Some of the people, like Lori, were lucky enough to slip through the clutches of the Decepticons new slavery process. But not many.

Guards had been put on the outskirts of town, so nobody could escape. People could enter, but they would never leave. The Decepticons also roamed the streets. It was becoming commonplace to see a huge robot walking down main street.

— 1 —

The major battle was over, the Autobots had won, but not without loss of life and many injuries. The major change, was that Optimus Prime had died. Now, Rodimus Prime was the Autobot leader. There were also, new allies and new technological advances.

One of these advances was designed for the problem at Willington. The problem was quite large, for such a small town. The new program was called M.E.T.S. for short. The long name was Molecular Energy Transfer System. It could transfer any object to a receiving station and back to a different location within seconds. It was designed for a spy program centered around Joel.

When the Autobots tried to return to Willington, they were met with resistance. The humans saw that they wore Autobot symbols and caused riots. Some good news that was reported back to Rodimus Prime, was that some humans either watched or ran away. Intelligence reports showed that the Decepticons were stationed around Breakjammer and Joel's mountain. The Autobot temporary headquarters had been destroyed. That is when they decided to implement M.E.T.S.

The Autobots were going to solve the problems they created while they were on Earth, before they permanently left it. Actually, the only one left was Willington.

Autobot city was dismantled and the Autobots went back to Cybertron. Some stayed in orbit around Earth, and by using the Autobot City materials, created a huge space station. It would be the base for M.E.T.S. It was also capable of defending itself. Right now, the prime objective was getting to Breakjammer and Joel.

— 2 —

Breakjammer's cave was faintly illuminated by his preservation chamber and Joel's open cubicle. His exo-suit was resting against the caves far wall behind Breakjammer.

Suddenly, the chamber grew bright with a shimmering light. Then there were three more Autobots, First Aid, Wheeljack, and Goldbug. The light faded as quickly as it appeared.

The first thing they noticed was that Joel's chamber was open. The two senior Autobots ran over to Breakjammer's chamber and deactivated it. They stepped back as the lid began to rise. Their bodies became covered with moisture as the escaping steam hit them.

Goldbug stepped outside the cave and just watched. He saw nothing and decided he was not needed here. An antenna positioned itself in front of his voice module. "Goldbug to transfer up," he spoke into it. After he completed his sentence, his disappeared in the same shimmering light.

Breakjammer started to wake up, so Wheeljack began checking him over. Everything checked out okay. The spy was fully charged, but weary.

"Do you know where Joel is?" asked First Aid.

"He's right..." he didn't complete his sentence as he looked at Joel's open, empty chamber. "No!" he yelled in defiance.

First Aid didn't wait for Breakjammer's next question. He just answered it. "We don't know where he is either."

All of a sudden, Wheeljack piped up and said, "It may be worse than we thought."

"What do you mean?" worried Breakjammer.

"We didn't hook his memory up to his implants. We didn't think that it was essential at the time. In his accident, his memory accessing center was destroyed. Well, partially. We don't know what he remembers, but its not much. His unnatural abilities are functional though. The danger is that without his memory being activated, his computer brain may act on its own," explained the inventor.

Breakjammer jumped off the table and went to the exo-suit. He picked it up and attached it to his back and started to walk outside. "Let's go," he said.

"We have a much faster way now," said Wheeljack, lifting his wrist to his mouth. Breakjammer walked back in. "Three to transfer up," he said.

"What do you mean 'three'?" asked a familiar voice over his comlink.

"Sorry," he said as he opened a compartment in his chest. He pulled out a little flat object and placed it behind Breakjammer's head. "Three now," he said. Then all three disappeared.

— 3 —

The feeling that Breakjammer got when he transferred to the space station was one of lightheadedness. Like the way a human feels when he or she stands up too fast. The station was similar to the city on Earth, except for the lights. Instead of the corridors and rooms glowing with a yellowish light that was a combination of sun and normal lights, these glowed grayish for only artificial lighting.

Breakjammer stepped off of the transfer platform, wavered a bit and then stood still. The other two stepped off also and walked over to the M.E.T.S. control. Rewind and Eject were standing there. They were both Autobot tapes, similar to the Decepticon ones. Wheeljack explained to them that they couldn't find Joel.

The door leading into the room swooshed open. All the heads in the room turned towards it. In walked the Protectobots. First Aid went over to join them on the transfer pad.

"Coordinates locked in," said Eject.

The Protectobots disappeared as Rewind turned a dial. Breakjammer didn't know what this new system was, but he like it a lot.

Wheeljack forgot what he was saying before, so he said, "Come on Breakjammer. You have much to learn."

Breakjammer looked at Rewind, who was a total stranger to him, and saw he was paying no attention. Then he turned and followed his creator out of the room.

He was led into a room that was very small. It contained a table that was in the middle and a computer on the far side, next to it. Wheeljack walked over to the table and put his hand on it. "Lay down here, "he ordered. Breakjammer did.

Wheeljack opened the panel on Breakjammer's shoulder and shoved a little box in the hole there. Then he hooked up a set of cable to it. He lost his sight, but it was replaced by images of the recent war.

The scenes flashed through and filled up his mind like he had actually been there. When it was over, the machine shut off automatically and his sight was returned to him.

He pulled the cables and box from his shoulder and closed the panel. He stood up and looked for Wheeljack, but he wasn't in the room.

He knew his way around the new base because of some of the images had been of its construction. He went to the observation deck, just to see what it was like first hand. It was actually just a circular corridor with transparent walls. The view was fantastic. He had never been in space before and had never seen the Earth.

The large blue planet brought the memory of Joel. He had to go back and find him! So, the first place to start, was the M.E.T.S. control room. On his way there, he thought of Tele Tran I. That computer would be able to help him find Joel. He went there instead.

The control room was familiar even though he had never been there before. He went right up to Tele Tran and sat down. He pushed a button and an image of the Earth formed on the screen. "I need to find the location of Joel." Tele Tran knew who he meant because no two Autobots had the same name.

Tele Tran hummed and clicked a couple of times and then projected a map of Willington. There was a little red dot in the center of the map. "Magnify."

The image grew bigger until there was a map of the town. The dot was still on the map. He recognized it as being a few streets up from the main one. "I'm sure I'll find him," he said to himself as he got up and went to the transfer room.

Chapter 11

A cool morning breeze blew up against two men who were pouring the contents of smelly garbage cans into the back of a large, even smellier truck. They both shivered and pulled their coats up closer around their faces. Some loose papers flew from the truck and they followed them with their eyes, letting them go.

A flash of light caught the attention of one of the men. He looked in the direction from which it came and saw nothing except a big bulky dark object. Was that there before, he thought.

Then the object moved. I made a few clicking whirring noises and then the sound of a car engine. Or something similar. As it moved, the man saw what it was as it went beneath a street light. It was a truck. Several thoughts ran through his mind as to why he didn't see it before, and what the flash of light was. But nothing seemed to fit the scene exactly. The one he liked most was that it was one of those Decepticons.

Breakjammer activated his tracker and his three dimensional topographical map. He picked up Joel immediately. Instead of the signal coming from the watch, it came from Joel's head. The homing beacon was activated by Tele Tran's probe the first time. He wasn't far away, which speeded up Breakjammer's excitement. But he was a little leery for some reason. Something didn't feel quite right. It shouldn't make any difference that they were both changed in ways.

He stopped outside of Lori's house. Several lights were on and shadows moved around inside. They were up early. He switched the map, to a 3-D probe of the house. Only two people were in there. Joel and a human female. Hoping that his partner wouldn't react too badly, he activated the comlink. "Joel, don't be afraid. This is Breakjammer."

In the middle of a conversation, Joel shut up and started talking again to someone else. "I'm not," he said. "Who are you?"

"I'm someone who can help you."

Lori could hear Joel talking, but no reply from the invisible person he was talking to. For awhile, she just stood there watching him. "Help me what?" he asked.

"Help you remember. Go outside and get in the black truck." Joel didn't like the sound of that, but maybe he could regain his memory. He got up and went to the front door.

Lori followed him. At first, he ignored her, but when they reached the truck, he turned around and said, "Stay here please."

She put her hand on the door and said, "I lost you once and found you, I'm not going to lose you again!"

Having no obvious choice, he opened the door and helped her in. Climbing in after her, he closed the door behind him. Nobody was inside!

The cab was all electronic. It reminded Lori of something out of a science fiction movie. Then they started moving. It was driving all by itself! Vehicles moving by themselves were no big deal in Willington these days. But Lori had never been in one! Joel was having no reaction at all.

They drove to the park and stopped. "Transfer up," said the truck. Before they knew it, the surroundings changed, and they were someplace else. The truck door opened, and Joel got out. Lori followed him. Breakjammer transformed and walked off of the pad.

He went over and joined two other robots about Joel's height. She looked at Joel. He was just standing there with a blank look in his eyes. She went to him and slipped her arm between his chest and arm. He didn't respond to that either. Soon, a door on the far side of the room opened and another robot came in.

He went directly to Breakjammer. They began speaking in tones too low for Lori to overhear. They were motioning and looking at Joel a lot. Finally, a robot that had no mouth or nose, went up to the platform and said, "Joel, will you follow me please?"

Joel nodded and pulled himself away from Lori.

"It would be best if you remain here with Breakjammer," Wheeljack said to Lori as he motioned towards the big black robot that had brought them here.

She wanted to follow Joel, but she also didn't want to cause any trouble. So she sat down on the pad and watched the robots. This little adventure was going to be interesting.

Joel followed Wheeljack out the door. He stopped and transformed. The driver's door opened and Joel climbed in. When he got out, he was in a room similar to the one he recovered in. Wheeljack requested that he lay on one of the tables. There were three. He chose the middle one.

The table was quite comfortable. It was the right size for a normal human plus it induced sleep. Soon Joel was resting quietly. Wheeljack put a mask on Joel and gave him an anesthetic. Now Joel would become complete!

He performed a couple simple operations. The first included, hooking up Joel's memory and adding to it. He added the information that Breakjammer got from the history computer.

The second consisted of plastic surgery. His identity had t be changed, for fear of the Decepticons. With the Autobot technology, the healing process would take only a couple of days. And then Joel would be on his own again.

— 1 —

Lori got up off the pad and walked toward the three robots that were in the room. They paid her no attention at all. Now would be a good time to leave, she thought. Slowly, she edged her way toward the door. Suddenly, it opened. She jumped forward and pivoted around at the sound of the door. After a glance back at the robots, she ran! She kept running and running, until she didn't know where she was.

A couple hours later, she saw a pink car drive past her. It stopped, driverless of course, and transformed. It changed into the beautiful female freedom fighter, Arcee. "Hello, who are you?"

Lori wanted to turn and run, but the tone of the robot's voice hinted towards non-hostility. "I'm Lori," she said hesitantly. She wondered if the robot was going to take her back.

"Lori," she repeated. "I like that. I'm Arcee." She took a couple of steps toward Lori.

She took a few steps backwards.

"I'm not going to hurt you," confirmed Arcee. "Where did you come from?"

"I'm from Willington."

"Oh," she said. She thought her cautiousness was because of the Decepticons.

"Where am I?" she asked, looking at her surroundings.

"You're on a space station in orbit around your planet."

"In outer space!" she exclaimed in disbelief. "Where's Joel!"

"Did Breakjammer bring you here?"

Lori looked at her questioningly.

"Let's go find him. He's Joel's partner." She transformed and opened a door. Lori got in and looked around. The inside of the convertible was similar to the strange robot/truck that brought her here.

"Tell me more about Breakjammer and Joel," asked Lori. "Please."

Arcee started to drive. "Sure." She explained all she knew.

— 2 —

"I knew someone would bring her back," admitted Breakjammer, when Arcee and Lori entered the Transfer room.

"This is Breakjammer, Lori," introduced Arcee, as she pointed at him.

"Do you know where Joel is?" asked Lori. "Arcee said that you two are partners."

"I have an idea..." he said, trailing off. He walked past Arcee and Lori, out into the corridor. They followed him. Breakjammer transformed and drove off. Arcee did the same, as Lori got in her.

She was taken to a different room than Joel had been. It reminded her of a hospital recovering room. Only bigger, much bigger. Joel was now lying in one of the beds with a mask on his face. It was a type of frosted plastic.

Lori ran over to him and put his hand in hers. "He's resting now," said Wheeljack, walking in and seeing her with his patient. "I put him under a cell regeneration light, before I brought him in here. Later I'll do it again and then he'll be done completely."

A couple of beeps filled the room. It was Wheeljack's communicator. "Why don't you give our friends a room," suggested a voice. "Affirmative, Rodimus," said Wheeljack. Turning to Arcee, "Could you take Lori to Joel's room?"

She nodded and transformed. She started her engine and drove off with her passenger.

Breakjammer went over and stood next to Wheeljack. "His identity has been changed. He's no longer Joel," commented Wheeljack.

"What do you mean?"

"His facial features and name have been changed. Now he's Jence. I enrolled him in the Willington University of Mechanics. I'm sure that he can dig up some dirt there," explained Wheeljack. "Oh, also. I implanted him with a locator. Our kind of locator wields itself to us. He could lose a normal one, because it can't wield to him," he concluded.

Breakjammer glanced at Jence again, said, "Hmph," and walked out of the room.

— 3 —

Jence's room was located down the hall from the M.E.T.S. room. Two rooms connected onto it. One of them, Arcee said, Lori could have. The other one belonged to Breakjammer.

"How long do we have to stay here for?"

"I don't think you'll be here for long," she assured. "As soon as Joel is better, you could probably leave."

While they were in Lori's room, the view screen came on. She was surprised to see one. "I thought those were only in the movies." There was a picture of Wheeljack on it.

"Arcee. I need you to do me a favor. Will you please come to my lab?"

She turned to Lori and said reassuringly, "I'll be right back. Stay here, make yourself comfortable, and get acquainted with everything."

"I'll be here," she responded. It was almost a promise.

Arcee walked out of the room. Lori could hear her drive away.

She walked up to the view screen and looked at the panel beneath it. While she experimented with it, she figured out how to switch cameras. A feeling of joy swept over her when she found Joel. He was sitting up!

— 4 —

Grapple, hoist, and Bluestreak were in Wheeljack's lab, just sitting there, when Arcee arrived. When she entered, they all stood up, including Wheeljack. She found an empty chair and sat down. Then, they all returned to their seats.

Wheeljack tossed an object to Arcee and said, "That's for Lori. Tell her never to take it off."

Arcee examined the necklace thrown to her.

"As for you three...," continued Wheeljack. "I want either Lori's house remodeled or Jence's house rebuilt. It's up to you."

"I think you should ask Lori about her own home, before you offer it to be changed," she said, in defense of Lori.

"One of the options needs to be done, for Jence's sake. I have it on the best authority that Lori and Jence will be staying together," confirmed Wheeljack.

"Who's Jence," she asked.

Jence is Joel's new identity," explained Wheeljack, putting emphasis on Jence's old name. Arcee compared the two names, but could not decide on which one she liked better. Like it mattered.

The other three Autobots discussed the possibilities for about five minutes and then decided. "We'll do both," said Bluestreak.

Arcee wanted to leave so bad! How could they violate Lori's rights? An unknown rage began to swell within her. Finally, not being able to fight it any longer, she stood up and stormed out. It was incredibly difficult to get many men to listen to one woman. She returned to Lori's room.

Lori was still using the surveillance cameras when Arcee entered. She hit a button and the screen went dark. Arcee was too mad too notice her curious behavior.

She handed her the necklace. As Lori put it on, she explained about Jence and their homes.

"Why?" asked Lori, referring to her house.

"I'm not sure. Something about you and Jence staying together," she said.

Lori smiled at the thought. "When are they leaving?"

"I'm not sure," she admitted. "Probably soon."

"I'm going with them!" she informed, leaving the room. Arcee followed her out and said, "If you want to be transferred back, apply pressure to the large jewel in the center."

Lori felt it, to acknowledge her.

— 5 —

The remodeling crew was already on the pad when Lori arrived. They looked at her in surprise as she stepped up to Bluestreak and very confidently, stood there. Bluestreak chuckled and said, "Transfer."

They reappeared in Lori's basement. The Autobots had bent over just in case they were too tall, and they were lucky they had. After transferring, they stood up instinctively, and their heads went through the ceiling.

Grapple looked at Lori. She was looking at the holes. "It needed to be changed anyway," he commented.

"Uh-huh," she responded. "While you guys are doing whatever, I'm going to run some errands."

"Be careful," ordered Bluestreak.

Already one of them, she thought, as she left the basement and her house. Nothing had changed while Lori was gone. The neighborhood was quieter though! She got into her jeep and drove to work. It had bee two weeks since she had been there. She wanted to explain why she hadn't been in. If she still had the position.

She noticed a couple of changes. First of all, there was hardly any traffic. There was non on the highway that ran through Willington. There was also a small city located right next to her town. Almost like an add on. She'd check that out later.

She didn't have to catch up on her work at all. Being the secretary of city records gave her the privilege of taking her work home. She parked in her designated spot and went directly to her employers office. Mr. Bane, her boss, was sitting behind his desk reading a book.

"Long time no see," she said.

Mr. Bane ignored her comment. "Where have you been?" he asked coldly.

"I was at home," she replied. "You knew that."

"Yesterday?" he interrogated further.

She wondered if he knew something. "Home," she said, hesitantly.

"Uh-huh," he said disbelievingly.

The door behind her opened and two men came in. She turned and faced them. She did not recognize either of them.

"Go with them," her boss smiled. "They have some questions for you."

Lori was scared. She turned to her boss and said, "I quit!" Then she ran and kicked one of the men in the stomach.

The other man grabbed her by the arm. She felt a surge of energy run through her and then she collapsed.

"Thank you Aaron," said Mr. Bane.

— 6 —

"I would appreciate it if you would explain to Jence his situation and our situation," requested Wheeljack. "You are probably the best qualified to handle this. I'm not sure how he will react."

"I can do my best," said Rodimus Prime.

About ten minutes later, Jence woke up. Wheeljack informed Rodimus and he went directly into the room where Jence was.

A half hour passed and Rodimus came running out of the room. Jence is using his powers quite well," Rodimus said sarcastically.

"What do you mean?" asked Wheeljack.

"We were talking about the exosuit. I explained it as he got in it. All of a sudden, the transfer beam was activated and Jence was gone," he explained.

"Where is he now?" Wheeljack questioned.

"I don't know. We'll have to check the coordinates of the M.E.T.S.," said Rodimus. He seemed to be taking the situation lightly and humoring Wheeljack.

"Did he show any signs of hostility before he left?"

"I could tell he was unhappy, if that's what you mean."

"We've got to find him! He's a menace to himself right now."

"Let's go then!" ordered Rodimus.

They burst into the transfer room with Rodimus yelling orders. "Transfer us to Jence's last known coordinates!" They raced up and positioned themselves on the pad. Within a second, Rodimus Prime and Wheeljack were gone.

They reappeared in back of Jence's old barn. It was in the afternoon. Jence was nowhere to be seen. The remains of his house were still scattered everywhere. There was some movement on the far side of the debris. The pair separated and walked around.

Jence was on his knees with his hands covered with dirt. "What do you want! Why can't you just leave me alone!" he yelled, with his head still down.

"We were just trying to help," said Wheeljack.

"Help!" yelled Jence, standing up. "Don't you think you've helped enough? Look at me! Look at my house and my family! I think you've helped all you can," he cried.

"There's nothing we can do. It's up to you. If you change your mind or need anything, you know where to find us," informed Rodimus. "Two to transfer up," he completed. The pair disappeared.

"Need anything more! From you!" he screamed at the sky. Then he fell back into the dirt. It felt like his life was over.

That night, it rained. Jence went to the barn and threw himself in the hay. He realized he still had his exo-suit on. Taking it off, he laid it next to him. It seemed to project the feeling of another person. Was it staring at him? Suddenly he was cold. He curled up into a ball and tried to got to sleep. The cold prevented it.

He glanced at the exo-suit again. He put it back on and felt the temperature change. Instead of curling up into a ball, he transformed into gun mode. Sleep came easily enough.

— 7 —

There was a ringing in her ears. Her head ached also. She saw spots when she opened her eyes. Lori tried to get up, but she couldn't. Her arms, neck, and legs were clamped to the chair she was sitting in. "Where am I?" she asked. Her vision was so bad, she could see only blackness.

There was no reply to her question, only, "What's wrong? This shouldn't be happening." The voice was metallic.

"What shouldn't be happening?" she asked.

"It's like the signal is being eaten," informed the voice. It was ignoring her again.

"Eaten by what?" asked a human voice.

"I don't know," replied the robot.

Her sight returned suddenly. A man, about Jence's size, and a small robot, similar to the one in the transfer room, were standing about three feet away from her. She wasn't anyplace she'd ever been before.

She felt the presence of something surrounding her head. She turned her head to the left and saw a speaker of sorts. There was one on the other side too.

The robot and man were standing at a console. She heard metal clanking on her right. Another robot came in. This one was really different. He had a large gun on his head. He was holding a piece of paper, similar to a receipt. "Look at this," he said, referring to the paper.

"What does this mean?" asked the robot who had taken the paper.

"It means that some people are immune to the 'signal'. Their minds are stronger or something," explained the odd one.

This was all very interesting to Lori. The human looked in her direction and said, "Venom. She's awake."

Venom, which was the odd one, walked up to her and asked, "How do you do it?"

"Do what?" she asked.

"Ignore the 'Signal'," he said it as though she should know what he meant.

"Explain," she ordered, stupidly.

Venom didn't see how explaining could hurt, so he did. "Inside the brain, there is a chemical that is affected by a specific signal. This chemical stimulates the will power. We have learned the signal and how to make humans obey us rather than their own will. Now tell us how you control your will power while you're unconscious."

"If you let me out of this chair, I'll show you," tempted Lori.

Aaron didn't see any harm in letting her up, so he pressed a button on the console and the clamps were released. Lori stood up, grabbed for her necklace and said, "Bye." But the necklace was gone!

"Looking for this?" asked Aaron, teasingly.

"Heh," she said.

"What does it do?" asked Aaron, looking it over.

"Nothing," she insisted.

Aaron looked at her with a glare that said, 'I don't believe you'. He held the necklace with one hand and felt the crystals with the other. A couple seconds after his fingers passed the large one, he disappeared.

Lori, defeated, stared at the floor.

"You've got some explaining to do," informed Venom.

— 8 —

Aaron reappeared on the transfer pad, still clutching the necklace. He wasn't surprised to be there. He suspected something like this because of Lori's confidence when she said, 'bye'. He was just unsure of what would happen.

At first, Rewind and Eject just stood there. When they noticed it wasn't Lori, they pointed their guns at him.

"Hold on," he said, walking towards them. "I found this laying in the street. I didn't know what it was," he almost lied. Soon he was standing an arms length from them. "What are these?" he asked, touching the symbols on their chests. At his touch, they fell. Shrapnel, another Insecticon, had improved his gauntlets for more power. Now they did more damage. He found a computer disc in a slot and took it. This would give the Decepticons Autobot technology. As he ran out the door, he was stopped by Breakjammer.

"Where'd you come from, Aaron?"

"From that room," he replied.

"I mean, who brought you here?" he was more specific.

"Nobody brought me here," he admitted, raising his hand towards Breakjammer.

From down the hall, Arcee yelled, "Breakjammer!"

Aaron turned in her direction and fired. The blast missed her and hit the wall, leaving a blackened mark on the wall.

Breakjammer reacted by shooting him with his null-ray. The ray was too strong for Aaron and he was flung up against the wall with a thud.

"Are you okay?" asked Breakjammer, walking over to Arcee.

"Yeh," she whispered.

They both walked over to Aaron. Breakjammer picked him up and transformed. Arcee did too. They drove him to a cell and locked him in.

After he was secure, Arcee grabbed Breakjammer's arm and said, "Where's Lori? That necklace was hers. Why did he have it?"

"I don't know the answers to any of your questions, but I swear, we will find her," he promised. "What were you going to tell me before he shot at you?"

"Oh," she remembered. "Jence is having problems. He doesn't want his cybertronics."

Breakjammer was at a loss for words. Finally, "Where is he now?"

"Last place he was seen was at his house," she responded.

"That's been destroyed," he said.

"I know. It must be a place of memories for him," she suggested.

"I'm sure he'll come back for Lori," said his partner, thoughtfully.

Arcee took her hands from him and he left. He went to the transfer room.

— 9 —

When Jence woke up, the rain had stopped. He transformed and was surprised at not being all cramped up. He walked over and stood in the barn door. The exo-suit allowed him to walk just like normal, no restrictions. He liked it.

The sky was gray and everything was soaked. The house remains were shiny and slick. He took a single step out from the door. A droplet of water hit his armored shoulder. He heard it slap his metal. He transformed again. It seemed simple, although he had never done it before. It was more instinct. How did that get there, he wondered.

The second transformation formed the bike. For a second, Jence balanced. Then, he fell and landed in the mud. It would take practice, but soon he would do it right.

He got back on the bike. His pants sucked to his legs with an awful wet feeling.

He rode down the street toward town. When he passed the car lot, he noticed that all the cars were gone. This didn't make sense. When he stayed with Lori, he remembered odd things happening and changing, but nothing that really stood out. They never went anywhere.

That's who he wanted to find, Lori. Would she be at home? Why not? She couldn't possibly want to stay with the Autobots. Could she?

As he went through town, he could find no cars and hardly any people. He did see the new structure near the airstrip though. That adventure could wait.

He got off his bike at Lori's house and stood next to it. He saw no movement behind the drapes. But, he did hear the sounds of things being torn down.

He got back on the bike and pressed a pressure pad on the right hand grip. The bike changed and folded itself around him. This was easier than changing to bike mode. But he forgot to pull off the helmet first. It was now laying on the ground. He picked it up and put it on.

— 10 —

The transfer system was unoperational. At first Eject, Rewind, and Breakjammer couldn't find anything wrong with it. Then they noticed the most obvious. The disc containing memory and operation parameters was missing. The only person to be in the transfer room was Aaron. He must have it!

The trio went to Aaron's cell to retrieve the disc. He was still unconscious from the null-ray, but he did have the disc. After replacing the disc, they found the coordinates where Aaron had transferred from. They were still encoded in its memory.

"Switch the coordinate setting to Jence's house," ordered Breakjammer.

Rewind changed the settings and transferred Breakjammer from the Station.

He reappeared behind Jence's barn. His sensors did not detect anything here. He must have left. It wouldn't be a problem to find him, only he didn't know what to do when he did. He walked out into the road and transformed. Maybe someone at Lori's had seen him.

He arrived there shortly after Jence had. There was no sign of him, but he could be inside, he thought. He wasn't worried about humans seeing him now. They've probably seen lots of Transformers by now.

When he walked up onto the lawn, he activated his comlink. He knew Wheeljack should be here somewhere. Sure enough. Wheeljack responded to his call, "Just a minute."

Breakjammer felt the transfer beam and waited. He was transferred into a chamber about the size of Lori's house. "Where am I?"

"You're below the house," said the inventor.

He looked up and saw holes in the ceiling. Through the holes, he could see the decorations and furnishings of her home.

The chamber was big enough for several large Autobots. It also had a M.E.T.S. This one wasn't as big as the original. It was designed for maybe five or six Autobots. He was standing in a miniature Autobot headquarters. It had everything for emergencies, even a holding cell.

No wonder why all the Autobots relied on Wheeljack. Afterall, it was a miracle that he could create all this in a matter of a few hours. But did it all work?

"Have you seen Jence?" asked Breakjammer, remembering why he was here.

"No. Not since he turned us down at his house," he replied.

"I think we have a problem," worried the Spy. "Jence won't come back, Aaron's had Lori's necklace and transferred to Autobot Station, and finally, no one knows where Lori really is."

"That is more that just a problem," said Wheeljack. "I don't see why Aaron is a problem. He's not a slave to the Decepticons anymore."

"You're right," he agreed. "He's no longer a slave, but he's working for them none the less. He started a battle after he arrived at the station. No one was hurt, except maybe Aaron."

— 11 —

Aaron woke up with a headache and a huge bump on his head. The recent events came back in a flash. Where he was now, he could tell, was in a holding cell. But what the Autobots didn't know, was that he wasn't alone. He surveyed the containment unit checking for cameras. Then, slowly, he withdrew the Overkill cassette. It felt great to be able to hold suck a powerful being in the palm of his hand.

Suddenly, the cassette jumped from his hand and transformed. It became the Tyrannosaurs Rex, Overkill.

"I'd like to see the Autobots try and stop us now!" boasted Aaron.

He went and stood next to the laughing Decepticon. Overkill stamped his foot on the floor with tremendous force, and the floor broke. Together, they tumbled through the hole and landed in the control room. Right in the midst of several Autobot Warriors and the Dinobots. Overkill would be no match for all of the Dinobots. Not even for Grimlock alone!

The Autobots began advancing toward them, weapons drawn. Frantically, Aaron searched for an escape route. He located an unguarded door. Overkill saw Aaron run towards it and followed as well as he could.

The door opened automatically. When they were safely on the other side, they turned around. The Autobots didn't even try to stop them.

"Overkill," said Aaron. "This chamber doesn't appear to lead anywhere."

Overkill turned and faced the wall behind them. He walked up to it and touched a metal square. It slid down at his touch. "Yes it does," he corrected.

The window was too high for Aaron to see, so Overkill picked him up. As Aaron reached the window, Overkill said, "Watch," and he kicked the door. It flew open with a mighty roar of escaping air. Then Aaron and Overkill flew out of the air lock. Aaron began to suffocate rapidly. His panicking made it worse.

Luckily Overkill was still holding him. His chest popped open and in went the unconscious body of Aaron. Hopefully there would be enough air in there to make it home thought the Decepticon dinosaur.

— 12 —

Jence walked into the huge lobby of Lori's workplace. He walked up to a labeled diagram that was on the wall. He located Lori's section very quickly and went directly there.

Unfortunately, she was not at her desk. He knew it was her desk because of the dusty name plate.

Nonchalantly, a middle aged man walked in from a room adjoining her office. When he saw a stranger there, his features grew very stern. "What are you doing here and who are you!"

"I'm looking for Lori," he replied casually. "And my name is Jence. Do you know where she is?"

"Maybe," he said thoughtfully. "Have a seat and I will be right back." The man turned and went back to his own office.

He sat at his desk, got comfortable, and pushed a button on his phone. The clean area in front of him on his desk, flipped up, revealing a viewscreen.

An image of Venom flicked on the screen. In a raspy voice, he asked, "What do you want?"

"There's a man here looking for Lori. What should I do?"

"Is it Joel?" asked Venom. A picture of Joel came on the screen and disappeared a moment later.

"No. This man is older. He must be an outsider, because he hasn't been affected by the Signal."

"Send him to Aaron's house. We'll take care of him there."

The screen went dark and the monitor flipped back down. He rose to his feet and walked back into where Jence was waiting.

"She left a message on my desk," Mr. Bane lied. "She went to an Aaron Brewers house. Do you know where that it?"

"I'm sure I can find it," assured Jence.

"May I show you out?"

"No," replied Jence. "Where are all the workers anyway?"

"Uh..." he stammered. "It's a holiday."

Jence left. He decided to wait until dark to go to Aaron's. His rationale was based on his assumption that Lori would not go there without telling him first. He hoped.

He had ridden his exo-suit to his friends house. He left it outside for reasons unknown. He didn't really want to see either one of them looking like a dark knight from a futuristic round table.

The house was very quiet and dark. The stillness made Jence a little nervous. He quietly walked through the living room. As he headed toward the hall, he tripped over something and fell against an end table, thus knocking a lamp onto the floor. The noise it made, activated the lights. Jence threw himself onto the floor and froze. He thought someone had turned them on. He saw the light switch next to the front door, but nobody was there. This confused him.

He got up off the floor and went to the switch. It was in the off position. Maybe it was installed backwards, he thought. He flicked it up and noticed the porch light come on. He quickly turned it off.

Unbeknown to Jence, but a neighbor had noticed the lights come on and was watching him. Jence soon found that the lights were sound activated. He clapped his hands together and the lights went out. When the house was dark again, the neighbor called the police.

Jence again, started his way down the hall. He examined each room and found nothing. The only thing that bothered him, was that they were all like guest rooms. There was nothing in them except for the usual furnishings. Jence's advanced hearing, heard the sirens of a police car.

He activated his infrared vision and ran to the front door. Why he didn't use it in the first place was anyone's guess. He waited at the front door until he saw where they were going. Unfortunately they stopped outside of Aaron's house. He ran to the back door and saw some policemen already running to the back of the house.

He went into the living room and sat down on the couch. At the same time, the policemen from the front and back doors, entered the house. One of them saw Jence's dark form on the couch and yelled, "Freeze!". His voice turned the lights on.

Jence stood up and held out his hands. It would be better to cooperate than start something. He could escape, but then he could not allow himself to be seen in town for fear of being picked up.

An officer walked over and handcuffed him. He was read his rights and then shoved outside into the back of a car. After a few minutes of riding quietly, Jence asked, "Where are we going?"

"To the Hall," replied the driver.

The car came to a stop in front of a small building. It was hard to believe that it was big enough to incarcerate people. Besides, a few weeks ago, it had been a juvenile hall. An officer got out and walked to the door Jence was by and opened it. He reached in and grabbed him by the arm. The officer was unable to pull Jence out of the car. The officer stepped back, "Get out!"

Jence calmly got out and stood in front of the officer. He was grabbed again, "Come on, you." He decided not to make trouble, although the occasion allowed it, so he walked cooperatively.

The inside of the Hall was hard and cold. The walls were made of cement bricks and the floor was just painted cement. Painted and peeling. His old friends who had been here, had told him what it was like. From their experiences, it sounded terrible. According to the procedures he had heard, he was supposed to take a shower, but they skipped that part. He was cruelly tossed into a cell with three other guys.

Two of them were younger and one was older than he was, by a year. After introductions, he found the older one was named Mike. The older of the two young ones was a freshman in high school, named Gary. The youngest was called Jeff.

Jence swore to himself that he would be very careful about his identity. If the town was under Decepticon control, so would this installation. There were only three beds in the room. Mike was sitting on one all by himself, while the other two kids had pushed the other beds together and were talking on them, they ignored Jence altogether.

Mike had been courteous enough to introduce everyone. "Do you mind if I sit down," asked the newcomer.

"Go ahead."

"What's with them?" he inquired.

"I don't know," he admitted. "They don't talk much to me either. When they do, they never talk about what is really happening in this town. Do you know what I mean?"

"Maybe," said Jence thoughtfully. "How long have you been in here?"

"I got here about two days ago. I had been in another town for awhile. When I got back, this one was all screwy. The next thing I knew, I was in here for jaywalking!" he explained.

"I was looking for my... girlfriend?" questioned Jence to himself.

"Your what?" asked Mike.

"Girlfriend. My girlfriend," decided Jence. "I went to her work to find her, but she wasn't there." After he explained his imprisonment, they both agreed that they should try and escape somehow.

"Even if I was trespassing," began Jence. "they don't just throw you in juvenile hall. They have to do paperwork and all sorts of things that aren't needed. That's all besides the fact that I'm too old to be in here," he decided to play on his appearance.

An eerie silence grew over the cell. Jence and Mike realized that the other two were listening intently.

"The only explanations I can think of, are that the Decepticons either tricked the population of this town or they are controlling them somehow," whispered Jence.

This was all very disturbing which made him restless. Jence walked up to the heavy metal door and examined it. There was a square window, with very thick glass, at the top. A rectangle about a foot long below that. The rectangle looked like a food slot. He placed his hand where the lock should be and started to burn through. Jence was paying attention to the door and not to the guard walking towards their cell. He felt a click and then the door opened. Jence almost fell through, but he caught his balance in time.

"What do you think you're doing!" exclaimed the guard.

"I was trying to read the graffiti on the door," he lied.

The guard looked at the inside of the door and said, "These doors are spotless." He hesitated and looked closer at the melted portion.

"Maybe that's why I was having trouble reading it,' replied Jence.

The guard walked past Jence and grabbed Mike. "It's your turn," he said. Then they left. The guard relocked the door and laughed. Escaping would have to wait.

Less than a half an hour later, Mike returned. He was tossed into the cell. He landed in the middle of the floor. The guard said to Jence, "You get to wait." As he relocked the door, Jence helped Mike to the bed.

His pulse was weak and his face was flush. For some reason, he was still conscious. Jence, oddly enough, felt a kinship to this guy. He didn't know what they did to him, but it was cruel and unusual punishment.

Adrenaline like he had never felt before flooded through him. He ran and hit the door full force. The door and Jence both hit the opposite wall. A deafening clang reverberated through the entire complex. Jence didn't feel the impact though. He picked himself up off the floor and jumped back into the cell. A guard immediately ran into the room.

He saw Jence was bent over Mike. He walked over to Jence and grabbed his left shoulder. As Jence stood up, he turned, pulled his right arm back, and let it fly. It landed dead center in the guard's face. The back of his head touched his back with a loud crack, and flipped back up into a bowed position. All the bones in his face were fragments. The body fell unnoticed to the floor as Jence picked Mike up and walked through the door.

Three armed guards were running towards them. Jence pulled Mike back into the cell. Then he realized that the other two occupants of the room were advancing towards them also. I can't leave them here, he thought.

Then he did something that he really didn't want to . He activated his comlink and said, "Four to transfer up."

The guards ran in and shot once as the command was given. The bullet grazed Jence's arm, but hit Jeff directly in the temple.

The transfer beam caught his falling body and dropped it on the transfer platform. "Medics! Transfer room immediately," ordered Rewind into the intercom, when he saw the situation.

Jence just stood there. When First Aid and Groove entered the room , they went directly to Jeff and Gary. Gary was passed out along with Mike. Jence carried Mike to the infirmary.

— 13 —

A thorough examination of two of the three, showed nothing physically wrong. Brain waves and reflexes were altered though. Evidence showed that the alteration occurred through either a signal or a series of signals. It was the only theory First Aid could come up with. The second part of the theory was that somehow the M.E.T.S. energy pulse counter acted the reprogramming process.

The pain or confusion must have been so great that they were rendered unconscious. One of the three was useless to test, he was dead now. A couple of Autobot volunteers took his body to preserve it for burial later.

Over the intercom, Jence heard Rodimus Prime say, "Jence. report to the lounge." Jence, however grudgingly, did as ordered.

He entered the lounge and found it unappealing. It resembled pictures of Cybertron he had seen. He spotted Rodimus and strode over to him. Rodimus was seated in front of a huge bay window. He motioned for Jence to sit in the chair next to him. It was huge and it looked like Jence could get lost in it.

"I'm happy you've decided to come back," admitted Rodimus.

"I had no other choice," said Jence coldly. He did not like being in situations where he had only one choice. Especially when that choice was unacceptable to him!

"I'm sorry," Rodimus apologized. "But we need you and you need us." He let Jence think about that for a moment and then continued. "We seem to have a few emergencies. First, Aaron is working for the Decepticons now! They also know about the M.E.T.S. They used Lori's necklace to get here and then they escaped. That's the other two problems.

Lori is missing. We've tracked the escapees and they have successfully returned to Earth. If you wish to know the details, reports are on file."

"I've been to Lori's house and her work. She was at neither place. I was busy investigating Aaron's house when I was arrested. That whole situation was odd. I'll tell you about it someday." Jence was struck with an idea. He jumped out of the chair and ran out the door. On his way out he said, "If my theory is correct, I'll be back soon, with Lori."

He went to M.E.T.S. control and set coordinates for Aaron's house. He scanned the entire building and found nothing special. His theory was, that if the Autobots had a BASE-ment below Lori's house, what stopped the Decepticons from having one below Aaron's? He scanned below the house and found exactly what he theorized.

— 14 —

Lori felt that this was going to be a very long day. After a few hours of questioning and Venom getting nowhere, but assuming everything and creating his own facts, he quit interrogating her and called Galvatron.

He told Galvatron that Lori was an Autobot spy and that the Autobots had developed a teleportation system. It interested Galvatron, but it also posed a tremendous threat. What exactly could the Autobots do with this System, thought Galvatron.

A plan formulated in his evil cerebral circuits. From behind Lori, she heard, "Psst." Without looking, she knew Jence was behind her. She didn't want to make any movements, for fear of drawing attention to him.

"I have a squad of Decepticons looking for the other three triple changers. When we find them, we will reprogram them to steal the information about the teleportation system and give it to us," mused the leader. The plan didn't seem too complicated. It was worth a try, definitely.

"Do you know where they are?" asked Venom.

"After gathering all the information from Six Shot, and plotting their trajectory, it would put them in the Mojave Desert."

Jence successfully snuck over behind Lori's chair, without attracting attention. By using his mind to activate his comlink, he said, in his mind, "Two to MET up." The beam engulfed Jence and the occupied chair.

Venom touched a few pads on the console to try and fix the video and radio transmission that was disrupted by the M.E.T.S. beam. He turned to say something to Lori. At the realization that Lori was gone, he yelled in defiance!

A few seconds later, Galvatron was on line again. Venom reported that Lori had escaped and the report was followed immediately by orders from an irrational Galvatron, "Get over here immediately!"

— 15 —

When Jence appeared with Lori in the chair, he immediately went to untie her. He laid his hands on the cuffs over her wrists and melted part of them. This weakened them so that he could pull them off without hurting her.

Lori rubbed the soreness from her wrists. "Thanks," she hugged him tightly, giving him a kiss that added an unspoken, "a lot" to the end of her praise.

He shivered a little and grabbed her hand. "People like to tie you up don't they." He didn't give her time to respond. Pulling her gently towards the door, he said, "We have to inform Rodimus of Galvatron's plans."

"What plans?"

"Where were you when they were talking," he asked sarcastically.

"I was paying more attention to you than to them," she admitted.

"I'll explain what you missed to Rodimus and you at the same time."

They ran together, until they reached the lounge, where they found Rodimus Prime. He was sitting in the same place Jence had left him. They both climbed into the seat Jence had occupied earlier.

"Before you say anything, "started Jence. "Let me inform you of an emergency."

Rodimus only nodded and smiled at Lori.

Jence explained everything. When he finished, he asked, "What now?"

Rodimus hung his head and shook it disapprovingly. "There's not much we can do. Wait until they make their move, would be best. At least we know what to expect.

Rodimus touched a control on his chair and said, "Jazz. report to the lounge immediately!"

After a few minutes of brooding in their own thoughts, Jazz entered and reported to Rodimus.

They informed him about Galvatron's evil plan and was ordered to form a counteractive plan. He was given three hours. Jazz saluted and walked out of the room. Lori and Jence followed him out.

The couple walked aimlessly, arm in arm, down a double sized corridor. Soon they were interrupted by the sound of sirens!

They turned around to see First Aid speeding towards them. When he got within a few feet, he transformed. "I wanted to catch you before you went anywhere. I made an improvement to the M.E.T.S. This addition to your psyche computer will allow you to take two steps in the M.E.T.S. process instead of one.

Instead of METing from point A to the platform and then to point B, I speeded up the process so that you can think the coordinates. Then you MET from point A to point B, thus skipping the platform altogether." He seemed to say all this while taking out a small box out of a compartment in his leg. He handed it to Jence.

He opened it and pulled out a silver bracelet.

"Let me warn you," said First Aid. "About that jewelry. Once you put it on, it's designed not to come off! It's for your protection."

"Thank you," said Jence. From past experiences, he had learned that responding to gifts from these robots just led to further explanation about the gift.

"Try it out," suggested First Aid.

Jence glanced at Lori and put the bracelet on. He pulled her close to him and activated his computer by thought. This is what is known as his psyche computer. Using his thought, he entered coordinates and the number of persons to be transferred into the M.E.T.S. computer and they transferred to their new destination.

Chapter 12

The engine of a train crossed the Mojave desert without the aid of train tracks. It's destination is the crashsite of the Autobot life pod. Astrotrain trudged along with one of the deadliest groups of Decepticons, called the Predacons.

The crash site was carefully being examined by a group of researchers. So far, they were only experimenting with the molecular structure and taking readings of fuel and radiation emissions.

Security guards were also posted in a circle around the wreckage. Mainly to keep out sight seers and treasure hunters. The sound of a train confused them at first. Then they saw the transport racing towards them at full speed.

They all knelt in a defense posture, with pistols raised. The train refused to slow or better yet, stop. Unanimously, they began to fire their weapons. The bullets had no effect.

Suddenly, five shapes flew from the storage compartment on top of the train. Four of them landed on the ground and started running to attack the guards. The fifth remained in the air to drop bombs from above. The bullets from the guards did nothing to these five metal animals either. But, the lasers from the Predacons were causing damage to the guards and to the rubble surrounding them.

Some of the guards fell, killed instantly by laserfire. Others, when the Predacons pounced, were mauled to pieces. The slaughter was horrendous!

Razorclaw ran to where the scientists were trying to exit. "Return inside and you will not be harmed," he promised.

The scientists were stunned that a huge mechanical lion was speaking to them. They went inside for protection.

Astrotrain stopped next to the wreckage and transformed. As he changed into shuttle mode, he grew in size. The Predacons gathered outside the wreck.

"Predacons!" announced Razorclaw. "Merge to become Predaking,"

They all jumped into place to form the giant winged Decepticon.

He dug a hand on either side of the wreck and picked it up. After placing it into the cargo hold of Astrotrain, they separated into their individual forms, and climbed aboard as well.

Then dust and debris flew as Astrotrain blasted off to escape Earth's atmosphere.

— 1 —

They reached the atmosphere two miles away from the airstrip and began a formal landing. Astrotrain came to a stop just in front of Galvatron and Cyclonus.

A hatch opened on the side of the craft and two sets of Decepticons emerged. Each carried an Autobot Triple Changer. Razorclaw held no one. Galvatron gave an evil chuckle and lead the group into one of the labs.

The two Autobots were placed on separate gurneys. The Constructicon, Hook, began examining them to see if there was any damage. There was none. They were still alive as well. The disturbing issue was that one was missing. Somehow Springer had escaped. So he had been in the last war. Hook, nevertheless, began the three day process of reprogramming.

Galvatron returned to command, thinking about how pleased he was with Hooks and Bombshells new device. Everything was going as planned. This time the Autobots would lose. Even if Hook was the only authority left, on the device, since Bombshell no longer existed. But Venom was doing well as an apprentice.

The Decepticons would probably gain control over most situations now, since Starscream was dead, he thought. He now had a responsible, loyal, second in command, named Cyclonus. A little slow sometimes, but reliable. This little town would be responsible for the reformation of Charr.

Since no one, except the Autobots knew of the towns new inhabitants, everything was fair game. And since the town had its own electrical plant, whoever is in control, would have as much energon as desired. The Autobots would refrain from attacking the Decepticons, because as usual, they would fear putting the humans in danger. What sympathetic weaklings!

Right now, the slaves made energon from the energy in the power lines that were connected into terminals to Trypticon. This source could go on forever, unless the Autobots found a way to interfere. Intelligence reports indicated that all of the Autobots in the town and surrounding areas were gone. The secret about how they disappeared wouldn't be a secret for long. He chuckled again and went to energize himself.

— 2 —

The only drawback of the M.E.T.S. was that in darkness, the beam released a flash of light. In the light, however, it was unnoticeable by most.

In Lori's new BASE-ment, one of these flashes occurred, revealing Jence and Lori to the new set up.

"Is this a joke?" asked Jence. Wheeljack overdid it this time. What had captured his attention was that the dominant color of the room was lavender. The lights on controls and other devices were other shades of purples and pinks.

Lori just smiled. "You like it don't you?" he asked.

She covered her face with her hands and nodded, laughing.

He looked up. There were no holes. How did Wheeljack manage to stick his head through the floor? Or ceiling, depending on how you looked at it. This place is so big, Optimus Prime could stand up in here.

The thought of Optimus made Jence's eyes start to mist. He hadn't known him well, but the things Optimus did for him, were priceless. He couldn't believe he was gone.

He was brought back to the present when Lori sat down at one of the computer terminals. There was something about this place that wasn't right. After a moment's hesitation, he figured it out.

It was designed as a huge rectangular box. The computers and terminals were set into the walls. The thing that didn't make sense was, if the place was designed for he and Lori, why was it so huge? There were also five personal terminals. What were their plans, if any?

He thought activated his communicator and contacted Breakjammer. When Breakjammer heard the familiar static, he said, "Save the transmissions. I'll be right down."

Soon the chamber was briefly illuminated again, to introduce Breakjammer. "The only way to explain the size was to show you," he said upon arrival.

He walked over to a terminal and said, "This one was designed for us," referring to he and Jence.

"Isn't it a little small for you?" interrupted Lori.

"Actually no," said Breakjammer, as he touched a pressure pad on the wall above the chair. This caused portions of the wall to transform into Breakjammer computer terminal.

"Now it's too big for him," Lori interjected on Jence's behalf.

The large Autobot turned and gave her a robotic look that said, Cool it girl, I'm not finished. She laughed as he turned back to Jence and continued.

"There's a door at the base of my chair that allows you access to your terminal. It's an office for you. Small, but adequate."

Jence opened the door to see how complicated it actually was. The door was just a normal 'side-slide' kind, as he calls them.

There was another question he had. All along the floor there was a five foot, in width, black border. If each of these terminals were transformed, their backs would touch the black border's outermost rim. The remaining portion of the floor was a light purple rectangle. He asked why this was.

Breakjammer explained. "The center rectangle is a M.E.T.S. platform. The size is in case of emergency. A small troop can be picked up by this system and be transferred to another location.

I also have another surprise for you two," he tempted. Opening his comlink, he said, "Transfer our two new teammates to these coordinates." As he spoke, he moved a few feet away from where he was. A few seconds later, four forms appeared.

One was Jence's new exosuit. It still had the same functions with some minor changes. When he saw the lavender suit, he immediately knew who it belonged too.

The other two suits began moving by themselves. The blue one removed its helmet first. Gary was inside it. The red one followed his example and revealed the occupant to be, Mike.

Jence felt a strange power come over him. He held out his arms toward his suit and imagined it melding around him. The new suit jumped at him in pieces, like Jence was a magnet or something. It locked into position on him.

When this was over, he raised his clenched fist into the air and yelled, "Yeh!"

The others cheered in amazement.

Jence turned to Breakjammer to ask a question, but he and Lori were on the other side of the room, talking. If he really wanted to hear what they were saying, he very easily could. But that would take away their privacy and trust. He was not the type to do that. So he waited until they were done.

Breakjammer announced to the group, "Lori and I are going to take a trip. We'll be back tomorrow afternoon."

"What!" said Jence, astonished.

Breakjammer didn't have time to respond. He walked over to the M.E.T.S. control, set coordinated, and he, Lori, and her suit disappeared.

Jence pivoted to his friends and said, confused, "What was that all about?" From the looks on their faces, he knew they knew what was going on. "Tell me," he pleaded.

They glanced at each other, smiled, and finally Mike said, "It's a surprise."

"Don't do this to me," groveled Jence in a humorous way.

"Sorry," laughed Gary, as they separated and went to their own terminals. Jence went to his also.

"You guys hungry?" asked Jence.

"Yeh!" they answered in unison.

"Too bad!" he joked. He paused for a moment, then said, "Follow me."

They got up and followed him out of the chamber and into Lori's kitchen.

When the two located the refrigerator, they acted as though they hadn't eaten for quite awhile. Jence hadn't experienced the food in juvenile hall, so he didn't know what they were going through. Obviously it wasn't too great.

"Mike. You said you had been in the hall for a couple of days. When was the last time you ate?"

"Lunch time, that day," he replied. Then he realized what he was referring to and said, embarrassed, "I always eat like this."

"How about you Gary?"

"I ate dinner the night before you arrived. I'm a picky eater so most of it was inedible to me. That's how I ate for the last month and a half," he explained.

Jence nodded in acknowledgment and bit into an apple. While they ate, they said nothing. Afterwards, they went into the garage and removed their exosuits.

Each one of the new teammates had been willingly bioengineered so they could use the exosuits and their capabilities to the fullest. By using their thoughts, they transformed the suits into another form.

This form was one of the ways Jence's suit had been changed. Instead of the bicycle, it was now a motorcycle. All three were similar to the design of Jence's old bike. They looked nothing like any Earth type motorcycle.

The engine may look normal to the average person, but it was just a shell to the real one. It was actually one quarter the size of the normal engine and weighs approximately ninety percent less.

So, t the trio, and other bio-engineered individuals, the suits would weigh next to nothing. Actually, each suit was individually designed for a specific person. They were not interchangeable.

Suddenly, Jence was struck with a question. "Do your suits have a weapons mode also?"

"Yes," said Mike. "And one other mode the new suits have, you'll find out about tomorrow." Mike knew he shouldn't have divulged that much information, but Jence would find out soon enough. He may even have guessed already.

Jence may look normal, but he's not, thought Mike. Our normal bodies were fully functional. The Autobots just added things and changed others slightly. No harm done. It was really just a great gift. Jence on the other hand would have died if it weren't for the Autobots.

We may be stronger than an average human, but Jence is about twice as strong as us. That is due to the fact that he's mainly robotic. Some of the vital parts on he and Gary are not on Jence. Even some of his organs are not original.

Jence's brain was connected by components also. A brain has several areas that are for different functions of the body. Parts of Jence's brain was destroyed and was replaced by enhancers, transmitters, receivers, and connectors. Now his five senses were enhanced along with other senses. Mainly his ESP should be enhanced along with other related abilities.

Mike did his own research concerning ESP and had recently been trying to improve his own latent talents. He was correct on his suspicion about Jence's brain.

His talents had been increased to the point that he could pick up on other's talents. That's why he felt the way he did in juvenile hall about Mike. He got the same feelings towards Gary, now that he had his own mind back, only not as strong.

After the garage incident, they went into the living room and relaxed. Soon they were all asleep.

— 3 —

Jence awoke in a cold sweat. His breathing was erratic and his heart was pounding.

He ran down to the BASE-ment and contacted Tele Tran I. After he was identified fully, he was patched into a sky-spy. This gave him the position to do his own spying without leaving the comforts of home.

If he was correct, what he was looking for, would be on top of the downtown department store. He was correct. He was also in the middle of an emergency situation.

— 4 —

They'll get me soon, thought Randy, as he sat shivering in the darkness. It's not my fault that their frequencies didn't change me.

He was right of course. It wasn't his fault. There were certain types of people that weren't affected by the Decepticons enslaving process, naturally. Lori was one and so was Randy.

If their frequencies didn't change the person, they would try some other tactic. At first they held him prisoner, trying to persuade him to work with them. He declined. No way, after seeing what they did to people.

Randy was a very strong and handsome young man. By using his strength and intelligence, he managed to escape.

Now he was a refugee in his own town. But now it was infested with those damned robots.

The world had heard of these robots and were convinced they were all evil. Some people said there were some good ones though. Randy's experiences proved the world right and those people were wrong. None of the robots he had met ever tried to help him.

On the road below him, a squad of them were looking for him now. So he hid on top of the store, scared.

As he hid next to an air-conditioning unit, he could hear their metal feet and their metallic voices.

He could hear bits and pieces of their conversations. He could hear faintly, the sound of growling. As it got louder, he realized that the sound came from behind him. He turned to watch the night stalker just in case he had been spotted. Unfortunately he had been smelled.

Ravage had picked up on his scent in the ally and followed it to the roof. Now his quarry was cornered, unless it could fly.

When randy realized that ravage was coming at him, he ran! He ran straight towards the edge of the building. He failed short of his objective.

He was trying to make it to the edge so he could lower himself down to the ledge of the two story building. Instead, ravage tackled him as he began to run.

The Decepticon panther bit into his arm and took out a small chunk. randy screamed in agony. But pain had never stopped him before and he wasn't going to let it start now. He managed to get out from under the metal creature and spring to the edge.

He stopped again, before lowering himself. the sound of racing jet engines is what interrupted him. A mistake he would be sorry he made. The jets began to strafe the area directly behind of him. This surprised him and he forgot where he was standing and jumped back. He fell right off of the two story building. He lost consciousness.

Chapter 13

Going from complete, relaxing darkness into harsh light, is quite a change. Especially when you don't know how long you've been in the dark.

That is exactly what happened to Randy. That was just the beginning. The worst part was when he realized what was waking him. It was another damned robot!

"He's coming around," said the white robot.

Randy closed his eyes, praying that this was a dream. If it wasn't a dream, the worst torture imaginable was waiting.

When he reopened them, there was a friendly, human face there. He let out a tired sigh of relief.

"Are you okay Randy?" asked the man.

Randy checked himself out and then said, "I'm okay. I just can't feel my right arm." Than it dawned on him what the man had said. "How did you know my name?"

"It's a long story. I'll tell you later. Your arm is fine, we just blocked off the nerves in it from your brain. That way you can't feel the pain," explained the many. "My name is Jence."

"What do you mean, 'we'?" he asked.

"The doctors and I here at the Autobot hospital," he informed.

Randy had never heard of such a place in Willington, but he was too tired to ask anymore questions, so he let it pass.

As Randy slipped back into his sleep, Jence said, "You'll find everything out tomorrow." He couldn't help but study Randy's features. His hair was long and brown. His face was strong with a square jaw. It was expressionless as he slept. This man, in relation to his vision, intrigued him. For the rest of the night, he slept in a chair next to Randy's bed.

Jence woke the following morning about ten o'clock. He yawned a couple of times and stretched. He was startled to find Randy watching him.

"How long have you been awake?" he questioned, slightly uncomfortable.

"Not long," he answered.

"You've just been lying there, watching me sleep?" he inquired.

Randy only smiled. Then, unexpectedly, he said, "I know you."

"No you don't," he defended himself.

"Yes I do," he insisted. "You've been in all my dreams. You protect me and are my friend."

For some reason, this explanation relaxed Jence. "That's how I found you," he responded. "I was asleep when I saw that you were in trouble. I had to avoid a lot of those evil Decepticons in order to save you."

"Thank you very much," he expressed his gratitude.

"What did you do to make them so angry anyway?"

"Actually, nothing," he admitted. "You know about their enslavery system"

Jence nodded his head and said, "Sort of."

"Well it didn't work on me. So I escaped, luckily," he continued.

Suddenly, Jence was struck with an incredible idea. To Randy it looked like Jence was talking to himself. Actually, he was talking to Perceptor. He began with no introduction, he jumped straight to the point. And Perceptor know exactly what he was talking about.

"Maybe their transmissions or 'frequencies' don't affect persons with ESP abilities. For example, it had no effect on me after my implanted enhancers. No effect on Lori, and she's been tested before, with high abilities. And I know for a fact that Randy is the same way."

"The other two, Gary and Mike, are immune to the 'frequencies' since their operations," informed Perceptor.

"I want Randy added to my team," he said.

"Are you sure? You don't even know him," Perceptor warned.

"I know him more than you know. There's just no words to explain. I'm going to talk to him about it. I'm sure he'll say yes. Will you please get everything ready?" rambled Jence.

"Only if you're positive that this is what you want," he said.

"I'm positive," he said, as he switched off his comlink.

When he saw the questioning expression on Randy's face, he began to explain everything. He also showed everything to him that he could.

Randy just sat there in awe. His anger started to swell at the mention of the robots. Jence could see he didn't believe that the Autobots were good. After Jence explained the Autobots position in the war, there was still a little doubt left.

Randy's decision was expected, but his reasoning was not. He said, "I believe in destiny, and from some of the things I've experienced, I believe that I'm supposed to be part of your group."

A flood of emotions washed over Jence. He was puzzled by them. He reassured Randy that everything would be just fine. He also assured him that he would be there for his recovery. Randy seemed satisfied, so Jence left him.

— 1 —

When Jence arrived back at Lori's house, Gary and Mike were still asleep. Lazy cyborgs! He'd wake them when Lori arrived. Jence walked into the bedroom, laid on the bed and fell asleep.

He was awaked by Lori's delicate kiss. He responded to her touch by kissing her back.

"We have something to show you," she teased.

"Yeh, I know," he tried to act sarcastically disgusted. He got up with her help and followed her into the kitchen. "Go get your suit," she ordered.

"It's already downstairs," he said.

"How did you know we were going downstairs?" she questioned.

"Intuition?" He responded. She left it at that and lead him downstairs.

When he arrived at the foot of the stairs, he noticed there were three other beings and a total of five suits. Two of which belonged to he and Lori.

Surprisingly enough, Randy was there with Gary and Mike. Breakjammer was there too.

He walked over to Randy and shook his hand. "Did you go through with the operation?" asked Jence.

"Of course. Watch," he said.

At that time, the four humans used their thought enhancers to control their suits. Each suit flew to its owner and locked itself around the individual. Jence was extremely happy to see Lori do this.

Breakjammer explained what happened. "Apparently, females take the same process for the operation and the same time for recovery as males. We waited at the space lab for Randy's operation to be completed. During that time, Lori was trained in the use of her suit."

Jence was impressed by their surprise.

"Each one of your suits do exactly the same thing," continued Breakjammer. "They are also interchangeable in their positions." Jence was utterly confused. "Now all six of us are called Espiobots."

That must have been another part of their plan, because they all began moving. It didn't take long for their first time, but even if it did, it was still extraordinary.

Lori and Gary jumped into position to form legs. Breakjammer positioned himself on top of them. Mike and Randy took their place as the arms. Jence was at a loss for words. The head appeared at the top of Breakjammer's body and said, "Now we are called Equalator. You may take your place as my weapon or trade positions with one of my other limbs."

Jence put his suit on and transformed into his weapons mode, then flew into Equalator's hand that was previously Mike.

The height of the robot was approximately the same size as Rodimus Prime. In this mode, their minds were joined together. Together they thought, "Now we can kick some major butt," then they separated.

They practiced forming Equalator for the next hour until they got it perfect and quick. Then Breakjammer transformed into truck mode. This mode had a long bed that was extra wide. This size allowed all five motorcycles to fit back there. The cab was a double cab, with four doors.

One by one, they got into the bed and transformed the suits into motorcycles. Then they got into the cab and transferred into the alley behind the house. Jence was in the drivers seat.

Jence remembered leaving his old exo-suit outside of Aaron's house, so they drove by. As expected, it was not there. This could only mean more trouble. Jence was angry with himself for making the mistake, but brooding over it would not help anything.

It occurred to them as they drove, that nobody was around town. It didn't occur to them that they were attracting attention though. Soon they found out who was attracted to them.

They were heading back home, when a bid black van cut them off. Breakjammer avoided the collision, making it look like he meant to go the direction he turned. Unfortunately, the van followed.

It tried to get as close as it could, but Breakjammer wouldn't let it get too close. He still had the same speed he used too. When Breakjammer reached an open stretch, he floored it.

Suddenly, the truck lurched. All power shut down. The passengers turned to see how far behind the pursuer was. It had changed. It had weapons protruding from it.

Mike had studied the weapons known to Transformers and assumed they had been shot by a null-ray. Finally, the truck slid to a stop. The Espiobots jumped out of the cab and called their suits to them. Primary concern was to protect Breakjammer until he recovered.

The passengers of the pursuer flew out of the top of the can. There were five of them too. They landed in front of the Espiobots. The can stopped short behind them.

"We haven't had Autobot carcasses here in a long time," laughed the one in the center, facing Jence.

"You never had Autobot carcasses here," corrected Jence.

"There's a first time for everything," said the same opponent.

"Sorry, but your hobby isn't going to start with us," said Randy, stepping forward.

The opponent facing him pushed him back in line. Randy gave him an uppercut and tossed him back a couple of yards. The opponent started at Randy again, but his leader said, "Wait! Let's tell them what we are before we kill them."

"What a good idea," said Jence. "We're the Espiobots."

"A sense of humor. I like that," said the leader. "We're the Juvicons. "Aren't you going to introduce us to the rest of your group, Jence?"

The Juvicons all wore exo-suits similar in design to Jence's old one. It was impossible to determine if any of them were familiar. "How do you know my name?" If they guy was so positive on who he was, why play innocent?

"You left something of value in my possession," he explained.

The only thing Jence could remember leaving anywhere would have been his old suit. That was left, in a roundabout way, in Aaron's possession. "Aaron," he guessed.

"You presume correctly," said Aaron. "Juvicons attack!"

The Espiobots were each attacked once, before they could react. The one that attacked Lori, just held her tightly and said, "I don't hit women."

"That's your problem," said Lori, as she broke out of his arms and threw him on his ass.

The Juvicons combat skills were extraordinary. They blocked everything that the Espiobots threw their way. The Espiobots really started loosing when the Juvicons merged with their transport. They did it just to show off.

The Espiobots would have been able to show them their stuff, but Breakjammer was still out of it.

"Now you can call us Executor," laughed the large robot.

Jence's team huddled together. "Any ideas?" he asked. Most of them said, "Fight him."

Mike said, "Without Breakjammer, we're no match for him. We should retreat."

"So far that's all the Autobots have been doing," argued Gary.

"I think so far they've made the right decisions," said Jence. "We'll MET back to our headquarters and you guys can get your revenge some other time." The decision was made and it was carried out.

Slowly, they retreated to Breakjammer as Executor advanced toward them. While retreating, Jence calculated the coordinates for the MET pick up and set them. After they positioned themselves around Breakjammer, Jence gave the order to the computer. In the wink of an optical sensor, the Espiobots disappeared.

The Juvicons separated and went back to their headquarters to report to Galvatron. Another small, but glorious victory.

— 2 —

For the next three days, the Espiobots stayed at the Autobot space station to train in other special combat arts. Mainly so they could stand up to that other bioengineered team. Retreating was embarrassing and the team agreed to try everything in their power before doing that.

During their stay at the station, they watched the citizens of Willington. Their schedule was quite easy.

In the morning, around nine, everybody except for women that had infants or toddlers, drove to Trypticon's and began their work. This included odd maintenance jobs, construction, experiments, and the majority processed electricity into energon cubes.

Around noon, they went to their homes for approximately two hours. During this time, they ate lunch, did shopping or housework. Before the change occurred, people ran the shops. These people usually spent their break at their shops.

After their breaks, they drove back to Trypticon to do their work again. At six, they went back to either their house or their shops. The shops stayed open until ten or eleven. They had to stay open so that they could regain the hours lost during the day. This is also the time when the town acts normal.

All during the night, Decepticons traveled the city. This was to insure that nobody was getting out of line. The Decepticons were never too careless with their slaves. There was always someone to start a revolt.

This time they were convinced that their 'process' was fool proof. But security was still procedure.

Jazz had been observing their operations for quite a while. Finally, he came up with a plan. It also conveniently included the Espiobots.

Right now, the Autobots were impatiently awaiting the arrival of the triple changers. They were expected to arrive soon.

Chapter 14

A lone craft floated freely in space about thirty miles from the Autobots station. The craft was not designed for space, but it was there nevertheless.

It was picked up on their early warning system. The Autobot warrior called Sky Lynx was sent to investigate. When he arrived, he opened his cargo bay doors. A mechanical arm came out and grabbed the aircraft. It was then sealed inside. Sky Lynx turned and sped back to the station.

After he had docked, the ship was immediately examined. It was found to contain one Autobot and the craft was itself an Autobot. They were then given charges of energon to revive them.

At first they were weak, but after a few minutes, they were able to function at about seventy five percent efficiency. The aircraft transformed very slowly, and said, "My name is Broadside."

His passenger announced himself as Sandstorm and said, "We're Triple Changers."

Rodimus had gone down to the docking bay to greet the newcomers. Security was always there before he was. He had arrived just in time for his guests to introduce themselves, however. After this was done, he said, "Would you two mind following me to debriefing for some questions?"

"Of course not," replied Sandstorm.

On the way there, they commented on how the place was designed and the size of it.

After they arrived at debriefing, they were seated and made comfortable. Then Rodimus asked, "How did you guys get here?"

Sandstorm volunteered to be the spokesman. He began, "We mistakenly followed Trypticon out of Cybertron's orbit. Shortly, we were attacked by him and we suffered minor damage. We kept going though. Within miles of Earth's orbit, he attacked again. This time, the ship was completely atomized. Luckily, we saw it coming and abandoned the ship. We had barely boarded Broadside," he motioned to his friend. "when the explosion took place. He was knocked unconscious. A couple of days later. I ran out of energy. I assume we have been floating ever since," he concluded.

It sounded reasonable to Rodimus. At this point he didn't see any reason why he shouldn't go along with their plan. He thought it safe to assume that the pair wouldn't start a battle here at the station.

Rodimus assigned each of them a room. He gave them general directions and said, "If there's anything you need to know, either ask someone or come to Command and run through the computer." They all agreed to do this. Rodimus said, "Welcome back," and got up to leave. They said, "Thank you," and went to find their rooms.

— 1 —

Autobot respect is usually based on rank or things they've accomplished. But trust is something they all try to earn.

Usually, the two new Autobots would have been regarded with the trust they had earned according to their files. However, this was not under normal circumstances. Normally everybody would be at their posts no matter what hour it was.

At ten o'clock, everybody went to their rooms for about four hours. This was not normal. The Triple Changers grouped together in Sandstorms room.

They used the computer to find out what kind of activity went on at the late hours. They found no activity whatsoever. This excited them. After finding this out, they proceeded to the command center.

It was deserted also. They separated and went to different computer terminals.

Sandstorm and Broadside both searched for information concerning teleportation. When they found what they were looking for, they contacted Soundwave. When he gave the order, Broadside transmitted the data. When he received all of it, he gave another command. Both of the Triple Changers fell unconscious.

Ultra Magnus, Jazz and Blaster had been hiding in the room, just watching. When they fell. Blaster notified First Aid and his team.

Ultra Magnus and Blaster went to examine them. They were still functional.

Jazz contacted Rodimus, "They took the bait."

"The what?" he asked.

"Our plan worked," explained Jazz. "Should I acknowledge the Espiobot's request to go ahead with plan B."

"Affirmative," said Rodimus, as he shut off transmissions.

Jazz opened a channel with the Espiobots. "It's your show," he said.

"Great!" said Breakjammer, who had been waiting at Lori's house for the call.

"Let's get down to business," he said to the rest of the team.

"Good luck," added Jazz.

"Thanks," they replied in unison.

— 2 —

The next morning, all the Espiobots except for Breakjammer arrived at Trypticon. They arrived one after another, with five minute interval between them.

They parked their exo-cycles with the rest of the vehicles and proceeded to mingle with the people.

The people spoke like this was normal. As if they had done this their whole life. None of them mentioned anything about their previous jobs or life. It was definitely a mystery.

Jence bumped into a few of his old friends, but said nothing. He just followed them and did what they did. As he passed through the first door, he thought sarcastically, no time cards.

Finally, Jence asked, "I'm new here. Could you help me?" The question was directed to his old friend Robby. Surprisingly, he responded. "Follow me and you can do what I do."

Jence smiled and nodded his head.

They went into a small chamber. It had a square hole in the opposite wall. The square was about three feet by three feet. It also had a conveyor belt running through it.

On his left, there was a pair of metal pieces that resembled an electrical plug. To the left of that there was a lever. Robby went over and pulled it down. Then there was a faint hum.

"Your station is over there," he told Jence, pointing to Jence's right. On that wall, there was a metal plate sticking horizontally out from the wall. It was about two feet by two feet. There was an alcove in the wall right above that approximately the same size.

"All you have to do is touch that button with your foot," Robby instructed. "An energon cube shell will appear. Just hand it to me."

Step by step instructions, thought Jence. He did as instructed and watched the results. The button produced a yellow energy-like shell. This shell was formed on the metal plate. He picked it up and gave it to his partner. It weighed as light as a feather.

Robby took the shell and forced it on the prongs. It lit like a fluorescent gold box. After thirty second, Robby took it off. It began to glow different colors. Then he placed it on the conveyor belt. It had begun to move a few minutes after they entered the room.

"My first partner and I got pretty good at this," he boasted.

"What happened to him?" he inquired.

"He died," said Robby, without emotion.

"I'm sorry," apologized Jence.

Robby said nothing.

"We can add more electrical terminals if necessary. For the last couple of days I've had to do this by myself. That's why there's only one right now," he explained.

Jence nodded as they continued with their work. Hopefully the others were as lucky as I, he thought.

— 3 —

Randy had successfully found a job placement also. He was working with loading energon cubes into little carts. Little, to Transformers that is. The carts, when full, took the cubes away on little beams of light. One man was loading energon cubes onto Long Haul. He is one of the Constructicons, remembered Randy.

He noticed the man had been wavering slightly. As he worked, he watched the man. He carried an energon cube from the conveyor belt toward Long Haul. Accidentally, he dropped it on a large sharp piece of metal, thus creating an explosion. The man was knocked off his feet without injury.

Long Haul, however, was startled by the explosion and transformed. He forgot that he had been loaded with cubes. the cubes fell on the man. Some of the cubes fell into the fire the first explosion had caused. This caused a chain of explosions. The man died in the multiple explosions. It all happened in a matter of seconds.

Long Haul started bellowing orders to cover up his clumsiness. One of the orders was for Randy to take the man's place. He did so after the fire died out.

After he reloaded Long Haul, he was ordered to get in the passenger seat. Must be to unload at our destination, he thought or perhaps hoped. Getting caught right now would really mess things up.

They drove to the air strip and came to a halt behind one of the hangars. Two humans opened the doors and Long Haul backed in. randy got out and began to unload him. The two humans also helped.

The hangar was filled with energon cubes. Other humans were busy either stacking or restacking cubes. Placing a disrupter pad here could be useful, thought randy. After this was over, he and Long Haul returned to Trypticon to repeat the process.

— 4 —

After the cubes were made and placed on conveyor belts, they traveled to different locations in the complex. One of these sites was where Randy was working. Another place was a personal supply room for a high ranking Decepticon.

There were several of these rooms. Each room had three humans working in it. By a strange twist of fate, Lori and Gary were working together with another individual. Their job was to remove the cubes from the belt and stack them against one wall.

The job was extremely boring to Lori. How can these people do this for so long, she thought. I guess you wouldn't notice if you were being brainwashed into not knowing the difference, she concluded.

She couldn't wait until this was over. It wouldn't be long now.

— 5 —

Long Haul and Randy kept taking loads over to the air strip and unloading them. One of these times, Randy saw Mike. He was stacking the cubes against the far hangar wall.

Every once in awhile, he got to use a fork lift looking machine to reach the top of the stack. Early in the morning he also got to load Astrotrain and Blastoff with cubes.

— 6 —

During the lunch break, everybody got in their vehicles and left. The Espiobots arrived at the BASEment about the same time. They took every precaution not to be noticed as they transferred in.

They put their exosuits on and they each grabbed a dozen disrupter pads. One by one, they transferred back to their work sites. They all did, except for Gary. He transferred to the west side of Trypticon. Then they each set out to position the pads.

Lori and Jence both ran through the halls, placing pads in positions. Fortunately they were on opposite sides of the complex to start with.

Randy placed them at all the conveyor belt openings and in other populated areas.

Mike places one in each hangar, carefully avoiding Decepticons. One of Mike's specialties, hide and seek. He also placed them around the air strip part of the complex.

Gary transformed his suit into cycle mode and drove the circumference of Trypticon, putting them in position. He also set a few in the parking lot.

After each was finished, they transferred to the BASEment again. Jence contacted Jazz and reported that plan A was completed.

When his lunch break was over, plan B would begin. The Espiobots were not going back yet.

The disrupter pads were designed to link together when activated. The link would, in theory, transfer everything within its circumference to a different location. The Espiobots had the difficult job of placing the pads in positions so that only individuals would be transferred, not the complex. The bad part of it was that this was supposed to work...in theory.

Willington school owned several acres of undeveloped fields. Plans for development kept being put off. These fields were the chosen point for the slaves to be transferred. A small group of Autobots warriors waited at the school for the transfer to be complete. This was just in case somebody was transferred that shouldn't have been.

The Espiobots watched the complex through he sensors of a Sky Spy. Plan B worked brilliantly when the time came. then it was time for them to put plan C into effect.

Plan C consisted of transferring in and getting some of the pads. The ones left, would form a circle around Trypticon and the Air Strip.

The whole group transferred in to get the pads. They each took a section of the complex to speed things up. Surprisingly, they didn't see any Decepticons in the halls. Extremely odd, since all their workers had up and disappeared.

After the pads were gathered, they met back at the point they first separated. Jence tried to program the MET computer by thought, but nothing happened! Communications with Breakjammer was also impossible. The group noticed his dilemma and questioned him.

"It's like there's something blocking my mind," he explained. "Is there anything that could cause this?"

"Some type of jamming system could feasibly do it," informed Mike. "I'm sure Trypticon would have the equipment."

"Does anybody know where this device may be located?" asked Jence hastily.

"The antenna array is located on Trypticon's highest tower," said Randy. He could use force to get anything he wanted, because of his size, but he was a very intelligent young man. While he was at the Autobot space station, he carefully studied all Transformer data.

"Let's go!" said Jence. "Randy. You lead the way," he ordered.

The inside of Decepticon installations were not known to Autobots, so it was impossible for Randy to know the layout. But, he did an admirable job on finding the corridors that led to the top. When they got there, Jence picked up the humming of electronics at work. The sound came from a huge antenna dish about fifty feet in diameter.

Gary didn't need to be told what to do. He automatically went up to the structure and began searching for a maintenance panel. He soon found one. He dug his metal clad fingers into the groove in the metal and ripped the panel off with his enhanced strength.

He began to reach inside to deactivate the dish, when he was hit in the side by a photon beam. He landed sprawled on the ground.

Jence began to move to him when he heard Aaron's voice. "I'm going to do my best not to let you leave." He said it with a certain sarcastic sadness that enraged Jence. The rest of Aaron's group stepped out from hiding to join him.

"What do you want?" Jence asked.

"First of all," began Aaron. "We are Decepticons. You are Autobots. Not a good combination." He shook his head as he spoke. "Secondly, you tried to burn me alive. And lastly, you made me inhuman. Similar to you, but from what I hear not as bad. Oh. And you are my equal and it's my job to take the lead. Is that enough?"

"Is this going to be a fair fight or are we going to do it Decepticon style?" Jence questioned.

"What do you mean 'Decepticon Style'?" he counter questioned.

Jence glanced around at his team. They all caught his eye. "First, if you have a weapon, you raise you arm horizontally." The team proceeded to be an example for Jence's instructions. "Then you point the weapon at your defenseless adversary," he continued. The team followed suit.

Aaron still hadn't caught on. He was falling for the oldest trick in the book.

"Then of course, you shoot," he concluded.

When Jence said, 'shoot', Gary sprang into action. He shot at one of Aaron's teammates off guard in much the same manner as he was. Even with similar results. At that moment, Aaron and his team turned in his direction. Jence's team fired at their opponents. Thus laying them on the ground. Gary took the opportunity to destroy the dish's equipment.

This all happened in a matter of seconds. Not wanting to waste time, by finding out if they could transfer, they ran back into the building. they all knew the way out of here now.

When they got out, they transformed and drove away as fast as they could. "We could have done this instead of trying to destroy that jammer," commented Mike as they drove. They all just shook their heads in ignorance.

As they drove downtown, they noticed Breakjammer standing in the middle of the road. When they reached him, they transformed. They stood facing him. He didn't say anything, he just pointed at something behind them. They turned to see what it was.

Aaron's van was following them. "We can fight them now!" said Randy excitedly. The others said nothing.

The can came to a stop a short distance from them. As the van transformed, its occupants flew out. Aaron's group stood in a similar position to Jence's group.

"Who's your friend?" said Aaron disgustedly. Obviously referring to the Autobot standing behind Jence.

"This is Breakjammer," he replied. "Who's yours?"

"He's the Juvicon leader, Nightfire."

"Nice to meet you," said Jence sarcastically.

"Likewise, I'm sure," replied Nightfire. Last time you kids ran away. This time we won't give you a chance." At that point, they merged with him to form Executor.

"This is the real thing guys! Ready?" prepared Jence. In unison they all yelled, "Yo!" and transformed.

Executor was awestruck by the transformation. He took a couple of steps back.

"I'm Equalator," he introduced himself.

Jence was simply ecstatic! He could feel the power coursing through him. Their minds were one again. He shivered with excitement when he saw Executors reaction.

The only weapon Equalator had was Jence. Executor had Nightfire's rifle and his sword. "I guess we underestimated you," Executor admitted as he lunged at his opponent.

Equalator met him with their arms locked in combat. each were trying to knock the other off balance.

Slowly, Executor was advancing while Equalator was backing up. Suddenly, Equalator was tossed backwards. he landed on a two lane stop signal. It snapped like a twig. Sparks flew everywhere. An electrical surge from the signal spread through Equalator, causing pain for each person. Executor laughed.

He lunged forward again, this time he was letting his sword lead the way. As the sword came down to thrust into Equalator's chest, Randy was used, flat handed to knock it away.

Equalator had to use all his might, but it worked. executor had all his weight on the sword when it was hit. His right side was thrown to the left, making him turn around. He landed on Equalator.

He grabbed Executors right arm and drew it up behind his own back and began to turn it clockwise. "Have you ever played the clock game?" he asked.

"No!" he grunted in pain.

"What time is it?" he asked, still joking.

"Three something," he groaned.

"Let's round it off and say three thirty," he proposed.

In reply, Executor tried to pull away unsuccessfully.

Executors arm began to turn to the three o'clock mark. The metal began to creak and bend in his joint. He began to moan louder.

"There's three o'clock," informed Equalator. "And here's three thirty!" He yanked as hard and as fast as he could. Executors arm broke off. He tossed it on the ground in front of him. Then he threw him towards it.

The arm began moving, but it couldn't do anything. Executor picked it up and flew off towards Trypticon. Equalator watched. All of a sudden, Trypticon disappeared!

The Espiobots separated and cheered for their first victory. They went back to the BASEment to relax for awhile.

EPILOGUE

Later in the evening, Jence received a call from Jazz. He informed Jence that plan C had worked perfectly and that the Espiobots were invited to a celebration at the space station now.

Jence told the group about it and they agreed to go. They left in a couple of hours. They had to shower and get ready.

When they transferred up, the first thing that caught their eye was the lights. They had been changed to reds and purples. It wasn't harsh light though.

Rodimus Prime was there to greet them. "I assume you would like to know what happened with Plan C?"

Jence and the others nodded.

"The pads were arranged precisely to form a grid in the area it circled. We just transferred the area into outer space and attacked them. Not to mention they were slightly surprised.

It was the first time we got to use the station's defenses. Or would you call them offenses, because of what we did?" he laughed.

Jence didn't answer. He and the group just laughed with him.

"What about the citizens of the town?" inquired Lori.

"That was exciting also. Long Haul was caught on the transfer beam and gave Sideswipe and his group a run for their money. They also had to answer millions of questions. Then the citizens walked into town to resume their lives," answered Rodimus.

"Why didn't Executors arm transform into individual mode? Or why didn't they separate and continue to fighting?" asked Randy.

Before Rodimus could respond, Mike said, "A good possibility is that we broke something." He said it sarcastically. "Therefore he was stuck in arm mode and Executor was stuck in his mode too."

"And now he's all alone," said Gary as he imitated a pouting child.

"I'm sure we'll see him again," promised Jence.

They were in the lounge by the time the explanations were over. The celebration was great! The Espiobots met several Autobots they had never seen before. And best of all, they heard hundreds of old war stories. Every once in awhile they got to include their own.

The party went strong for several hours. But gradually the beings began to leave. "Welcome to the ranks of the Autobots," said Ultra Magnus. They each in turn shook his finger. All except for Breakjammer, who was big enough to shake his hand.

"Are you guys ready to see your new home?" asked Rodimus Prime.

"What do you mean?" asked Jence.

"Aren't you coming with us to Cybertron?" asked the Autobot leader.

"No," said Jence firmly.

"Why not?" asked Ultra Magnus. "There are no more Decepticons down there."

"Yes there is," Jence corrected. "The Juvicons are still down there. I'm sure they will find a way to wreak havoc."

"They're like a disease," added Rodimus. "They could spread. Then we would have to do this all over again."

Jence was glad to see that Rodimus understood.

"We'll leave you and your team on Earth for your planets protection. The M.E.T.S. satellite will be left for your use. Before we leave, take a shuttle craft. This way if you ever decide to come to Cybertron, you can." instructed Rodimus.

The deal sounded good to Jence and the group, so they agreed to it. After a few farewells to a few individuals, they boarded a shuttle and waited. Rodimus said his goodbye again and Mike launched the shuttle.

Mike programmed the craft for a constant orbit and joined the group at a large bay window. The Autobot space station was leaving orbit and heading for their far away home.

Jence drew Lori close to him and hugged her tightly. "Do you think I made the right decision?" he asked.

"Always," she answered.

He smiled and kissed her.

He telepathically opened a channel with his METS computer and set the coordinates. In a flash of light all six individuals transferred to the planet that they call home.


End file.
